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WARRINGTON"  PEN-PORTRAITS 


A  COLLECTION  OF 


PERSONAL  AND  POLITICAL  REMINISCENCES 

FROM  1848  TO   18TG, 


FROM   THE   WRITINGS   OF 

WILLIAM    sKrOBINSON. 


WITH  MEMOIR,   AND   EXTRACTS   FROM  DIARY  AND  LETTERS 
NEVER   BEFORE   PUBLISHED. 


BOSTON: 

EDITED  AND   PUBLISHED  BY  MRS.  W.  S.  ROBINSON, 
41-43  rRjVNKLi>'  Street. 

1877. 


Copyright,  1877, 
By  MES.  W.  S.   ROBINSON. 


Stereotyped  and  Printed  by 

Rand,  Avery,  and  Company, 

117  Franklin  Street, 

Boston. 


TO 

THE      PEOPLE, 
IN  WHOM  "  WAKRINGTON  "  BELIEVED  AND  FOK  WHOM   HE  LABOKED, 

AS  WELL  AS  TO 

THEIR     LEADERS, 

WHOM   HE   CENSURED   AND   CRITICISED. 


COE-TEETS. 


PAGE. 

INTEODUCTION ix 

MEMOIR. 

CHAP. 

I.  Parentage  and  BornooD 1 

H.  Youth ]5 

III.  Manhood 25 

IV.  Free-Soil  Editor 35 

V.  Free-Soil  Editor  {Continued) 53 

VI.  ""Warrington"  Letters 78 

VII.  Clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Eepresenta- 

Trv'ES 102 

VTII.  Butler  and  Butlerism 130 

IX.  The  Successful  Man 149 

X.  In  Memoriam 1G7 

PEN-PORTIIAITS. 

I.  The  Free-Soil  Party 183 

II.  The  Fugitive-Slave  Law 189 

III.  The  Whigs  and  the  Coalition 198 

IV.  Workings  of  the   Fugitive-Slave  Act  in  Massachu- 

setts     20G 

V.  The  Know-Nothing  and  Straight-Republican  Parties,  214 

VI.  Antislavery  Movement 227 

VII.  John  Brown  and  President  Lincoln      ....      237 

VIII.  In  War  Time 253 

IX.  Jubilee  Days 280 

X.  Results  of  President  Lincoln's  Death     ....  304 
XI.  Action  in  Massachusetts  from  1808  to  1871 .        .        .      322 
XII.  Political  Situation  in  1872-1873;  ant)   "  WAimtNGTON " 

abroad 354 

Xirr.  The  Situation  in  1874-1875 380 

XIV.  Free-Soil  Leaders 400 

XV.  Brief  Biographies         .     *  .        .        .  ...      400 

XVI.  Brief  BiOGHAriiiEs  (Continued) 475 

XVII.  Brief  Biographies  {Continued) 517 

XVIII.  The  Wojlan  Question 54t 

APPENDIX 565 

INDEX       .' 581 

V 


INTRODUCTION. 


IISTTEODUOTIOI^. 

BY  F.  B.  SANBORN. 


I  HAVE  complied  willingly  with  the  request  of  Mrs.  Rod- 
INSON  for  a  few  pages  introductory  to  her  full  and  interesting 
Memoir  of  our  dear  friend,  and  the  friend  of  ever}'  good 
cause,  William  S.  Robinson  ;  though  it  would  have  been 
more  appropriate  for  some  older  acquaintance,  who  had 
known  him  from  boyhood,  to  undertake  this  friendl}'  task. 
My  own  intimac}^  with  him  began  in  his  native  town  of  Con- 
cord, soon  after  I  went  there  to  live,  in  1855  ;  and  conse- 
quently covered  but  about  twenty  of  his  fifty  active  and 
useful  years.  He  had  been  a  journalist  for  sixteen  of  those 
years  when  I  first  met  him  ;  and  he  was  in  the  full  maturity 
of  his  talents  then,  though  neither  so  distinguished  nor  so 
powerful  as  he  afterwards  became.  Although  I  must  have 
seen  him  earlier,  n\y  first  distinct  recollection  of  him  is  at 
the  "melon-party"  of  which  Mrs.  Robinson  speaks,  given 
b}'  Mrs.  Thoreau,  the  mother  of  Ilenr}-  Thoreau,  one  evening 
in  September,  18.35.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Thoreaus 
then  to  raise  fine  melons  in  their  garden,  and  once  a  3ear  to 
assemble  their  friends  at  a  reception,  where  the  melons  that 
Henry  and  his  father  had  grown  formed  the  principal  feast. 
On  this  occasion,  I  recall  the  small  and  slightly  stooping 
figure  of  William  Robinson  among  the  guests.  His  jesting 
manner  and  ready  laugh  were  in  sufficient  contrast  with  the 


s  introduction: 

grave  bearing  of  his  schoolmate,  the  poet-naturalist  of  the 
Concord  woods  and  waters.  But  the  two  men  were  alike  iu 
their  courageous  support  of  unpopular  opinions,  their  neg- 
lect of  the  cheap  prizes  of  life,  and  in  the  steadiness  of  their 
friendship  for  those  to  whom  they  were  allied, 

"  They  were  of  a  lineage 
That  each  for  each  doth  fast  engage." 

I  did  not  fairly  come  to  know  Robinson,  however,  until 
we  met  frequenth',  from  1858  onward,  at  the  Bird  Club  in 
Boston,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  con- 
stant members.  He  used  to  say  that  he  meant  to  earn 
enough  b}' his  "Warrington"  letters,  which  then  began  to 
be  famous,  to  pay  for  his  weekly  club  dinners.  But  they  did 
more  than  this  :  they  made  him  so  much  a  power  in  Massa- 
chusetts, that  when  the  time  came,  in  1860,  for  his  table- 
companions  of  the  Bird  Club  to  take  control  of  political 
affairs  in  this  Commonwealth,  he  was  found  to  be  among  the 
most  important  of  their  number.  He  entered,  with  Sumner, 
Andrew,  Wilson,  Bird,  the  Howes,  Claflin,  Wright,  Stearns, 
and  the  rest,  into  that  council  of  friends,  which,  until  it  was 
broken  b}'  "  time  and  chance  which  happeneth  to  all,"  gave 
wise  and  brave  direction  to  the  policy  of  Massachusetts  both 
in  state  and  national  affairs.  This  unrecognized  cabinet, 
composed  of  both  official  and  unofficial  persons,  came  into 
power  with  Gov.  Andrew  in  18G0-61  ;  and  its  last  powerful 
stroke  was  the  defeat  of  Butler  for  governor  in  1871.  In 
the  ten  intervening  years,  the  pen  of  "Warrington"  was 
as  potent  as  any  single  influence,  except  the  great  soul  of 
Sumner  and  the  great  heart  of  Andrew,  in  maintaining  the 
steady  course  of  Massachusetts  on  all  grave  issues. 

Something  of  this  potency  yet  survives  in  the  pages  here 
selected  from  the  mass  of  Robinson's  journalistic  writings, 
though  much  of  the  force  then  felt  has  disappeared  with  the 
emergenc}^  that  called  it  forth.  The  wit,  the  sagacit}',  the 
broad  humor,  and  strong  sense,  —  above  all,  the  dauntless 
independence  of  the  man,  —  these  all  shine  forth,  and  may 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

be  read  in  future  years.  But  that  which  has  passed  away, 
never  to  return,  is  the  ardor  of  the  generous  contention  for 
freedom  and  a  broader  national  life ;  the  common  impulse, 
thrilling  from  man  to  man  as  b}^  an  electric  shock,  when  we 
stood  side  by  side  in  the  ranks,  giving  and  taking  blows, 
and  more  eager  for  the  victory  of  truth  than  for  the  glor^-  or 
the  spoils  of  conquest.  This  must  be  to  others  but  a  dim 
tradition,  growing  fainter  witli  time  :  to  us  it  is  a  warm  and 
cherished  memory,  which  the  passing  j-ears  will  seek  to 
efface,  but  cannot  obliterate.  Mrs.  Robinson  has  well  pre- 
served the  spirit,  and  many  of  the  incidents,  of  that  long 
warfare  with  evil ;  and  the  invincible,  unassuming  courage 
and  resource  of  her  husband  during  that  whole  period  gleam 
out  in  her  narration  as  we  saw  them  then,  but  with  details  of 
self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  that  are  now  first  made  public. 

It  was  in  this  period  that  the  reminiscences  of  Gov.  Bul- 
lock begin ;  and  they  may  here  be  fitly  introduced.  He 
says,— 

"  M3'  relations  with  Mr.  Robinson  were  intimate  during 
four  years  (while  I  was  speaker  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, he  being  all  that  time  its  clerk)  ;  and  his  solid, 
personal  qualities  made  upon  me  an  enduring  impression.  I 
found  the  temper  of  his  nature  amiable,  generous,  and  con- 
fiding beyond  any  thing  I  had  conceived  from  his  writings. 
He  was  far  more  capable  of  sustained  friendship  than  many 
persons  whose  manners  are,  on  the  surface,  more  attractive 
than  his.  I  never  knew  him  to  do  an  ungenerous  thing,  or 
to  approve  a  mean  act.  Acquaintance  brought  out  a  broad 
and  deep  humor  which  his  appearance  did  not  indicate  to  a 
stranger.  He  had  the  laugh  of  a  largc-souled  man,  which 
came  out  of  the  heart,  and  carried  magnetism  into  his  con- 
versation. He  abounded  in  wit  of  a  pleasant  flavor.  From 
standard  authors,  and  from  the  transient  literature  of  the 
day,  with  a  quickness  which  has  rarely  been  surpassed,  he 
extracted  all  the  sweetest  graces;  and,  under  his  nicely- 
shaded  perception,  they  kindled  into  soft  and  mellow  light. 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

A  familiar  friend  could  not  fail  to  observe  the  two  sides  of 
his  character ;  for,  while  his  life  was  apparently'  rather  a 
stern  and  severe  one,  in  social  intercourse  he  was  one  of  the 
best  interpreters  I  ever  knew  of  the  finer  qualities  of  a 
humorist.  Though  he  was  somewhat  abrupt  in  manner, 
delicac}'  of  feeling  was  his  most  striking  characteristic.  I 
mention  this  particularlj",  because  he  was  thought  by  many 
to  be  moody,  or  even  cjnical.  He  did  like  satire  ;  and  any 
man  who  deals  much  in  that  seldom  gets  credit  for  the  better 
parts  of  his  disposition.  Mr.  Robinson's  lot  was  not  one 
of  ease,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  one  of  constant  and 
miscellaneous  intellectual  struggle  for  support ;  and  I  take 
pleasure  in  bearing  m}'  testimony  to  the  serenity  with  which 
he  bore  it,  —  without  discontent,  without  envj-  and  suspicion, 
always  justl}^  towards  others  more  favorably  situated. 

"  He  had  signally  an  honest  mind.  There  was  no  sham 
in  his  own  make  ;  and  he  never  practised  sophistry  or  char- 
latanry-, or  tolerated  it  in  others.  His  was  not  the  custom 
of  saying  '  Yes '  for  the  sake  of  assenting ;  nor  of  sa3-ing 
'  No,'  unless  he  thought  and  felt  it.  Without  bias,  he  criti- 
cised right  and  left  the  opinions  and  actions  of  his  friends  ; 
and  he  yielded  free  approval  to  those  of  his  opponents,  if 
his  judgment  so  determined.  He  looked  for  the  merits  of 
men  and  things  ;  and  mere  title,  distinction,  fame,  weighed 
with  him  very  little.  I  recall  numerous  instances  of  the 
entire  independence  and  uprightness  of  his  opinions  at  a 
time  in  which  most  men  surrendered  their  individuality  with- 
out reflection  to  the  popular  tidal  wave.  Althougli  radically 
attached  to  the  administration  pjirt}',  he  criticised  Sumner  as 
freel}-  as  he  criticised  Vallandigham ;  and  mau}^  a  time 
during  the  war  he  expressed  to  me  his  sympathy  with  those 
whose  personal  rights  and  liberties  he  tlaought  were  unduly 
infringed  under  the  shadow  of  the  '  war  power,'  as  it  was 
called.  And  his  heart  was  as  honest  as  his  intellect.  To 
say  that  he  was  bej'ond  corruption  is  saying  little  for  him. 
He  worked  hard  all  his  days,  and  never  wanted  for  his  labor 
more  than  it  was  worth.     I  do  not  know  anybody  who  has 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 

done  contentedly  so  much  literarj^  work  for  such  moderate 
pay.  In  the  war-time,  in  which  all  salaries  were  raised 
under  the  general  inflation,  when  Ave  came  to  that  of  the 
clerk  of  the  House,  I  fixed  upon  a  sum  which  could  easily 
have  been  carried  ;  but  he  insisted  upon  lower  figures,  which, 
he  said,  were  all  the  office  was  justly  entitled  to  ask.  He 
was  a  model  man  for  public  econom}-,  and  could  not  be 
tempted  from  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  living  which 
marked  him  to  the  end. 

"  Intellectually,  Mr.  Robinson  was  both  broad  and  acute. 
His  mind  went  out  after  principles,  passing  by  technical 
methods.  I  never  could  induce  him  to  pa}-  much  reverence 
to  parliamentary  authorities.  His  Manual,  published  two 
years  ago,  really  ^contains  all  the  essentials  of  parliamentary- 
law  ;  and  it  ought  to  come  into  general  use.  It  is  a  book  of 
principles,  and  is  sufficient  to  suggest  all  the  necessary  forms  ; 
but,  because  it  deals  in  principles  instead  of  forms,  I  doubt 
if  it  is  so  popular  as  it  ought  to  be.  His  wise  discernment 
and  his  retentive  memory  were  conspicuous  in  his  studies  and 
reading,  and  made  him  an  authority  within  the  range  of  his 
knowledge,  which  was  remarkable  for  his  opportunities. 
His  reading  was  miscellaneous,  covering  wisely  the  best  of 
modern  authors  in  the  English  language ;  and  he  was 
especiall}'  eclectic  in  all  that  he  preserved  and  treasured  from 
his  reading.  He  was  a  natural  and  pure  writer,  — vigorous, 
penetrating,  and  incisive.  Considering  that  he  was  a  born 
critic,  and  that  he  indulged  his  pi}'  with  like  freedom  towards 
those  whom  he  favored  and  towards  those  whom  he  censured, 
we  must  all  of  us  acknowledge,  that  an  aim  for  justice  and 
truth  predominated  in  his  writings  to  a  degree  uncommon  in 
the  compositions  of  criticism.  I  do  not  think  it  was  known, 
save  by  a  few  of  his  friends,  liow  well-read  he  was  ;  and 
certainly  very  few  readers  could  throw  aside  the  chafl!",  and 
appropriate  the  real  grain,  more  rapidly  than  he  did. 

"  Mr.  Robinson  has  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
the  INDEPENDENT  PRESS.  lu  high  part}'  times,  he  was  one 
of  the  earliest,  most  pronounced,  and  most  fearless  of  all  our 


Xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

independent  newspaper-writers.  The  obligation  of  free  ex- 
pression of  his  thoughts  he  deemed  superior  to  the  fancied 
restraints  of  friendship ;  and,  though  this  rule  may  seem 
unamiable  to  a  limited  number  of  interested  persons,  the 
practice  of  it  is  essential  to  free  and  independent  journalism. 
Before  Robinson's  da}',  we  had  no  well-known  journalist  in 
this  State  who  made  the  venture  which  he  has  so  success- 
fully made.  He  did  not  forbear  to  publish  what  he  thought 
of  the  acts  and  opinions  of  a  public  man  from  fear  of  meet- 
ing him  at  a  dinner-table  the  next  week,  nor  from  that  other 
and  more  abject  fear  of  party  discipline.  An  impending  elec- 
tion did  not  shut  off  from  his  vision  justice,  truth,  or  duty. 
In  his  conversation  and  in  his  published  writings,  we  had  an 
interpretation  of  '  reform  within  the  party.  ^  If  he  could  have 
lived  a  few  years  longer,  I  haA^e  no  doubt  that  he  would  have 
maintained  in  still  higher  style  than  before  the  position  of 
one  of  the  advance-guard  of  the  independent  press,  —  that 
term  of  so  much  reproach,  and  3'et  of  so  much  honor." 

An  earlier  and  more  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Fraxcis  W. 
Bird,  has  communicated  a  few  of  those  recollections. Avhich 
throng  to  the  chambers  of  memory  when  the  name  of  Rob- 
inson and  the  days  of  the  antislavery  conflict  are  men- 
tioned.    Mr.  Bird  writes,  — 

"  Somewhat  over  forty  3'ears  ago,  I  first  met  William  S. 
Robinson  in  his  brother's  printing-office  in  Dedham,  —  he  a 
lad  in  his  teens,  I  ten  years  his  senior.  Ten  j-ears  at  our 
ages  then  seemed  to  separate  us  widely.  But  he  soon  after 
engaged  in  pursuits  which  stimulated  mental  activit}' :  I 
drifted  into  a  condition  which  checked  and  dwarfed  it. 
And  so  it  happened,  that,  when  we  were  brought  together 
ten  or  fifteen  years  later,  he  had  come  up  by  m}^  side  ;  and, 
from  that  time  to  the  day  of  his  death,  '  we  clamb  the  hill 
thegither.'  It  was  hard  climbing.  Young  men  who  joined 
the  antislaver}'  movement  in  its  earliest  da^'s,  and  especially 
those  who  left  the  Whig  party  and  acted  politically  against 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

slaveiy,  met  a  proscription  commercial,  political,  and  social, 
of  the  bitterness  and  intensity  of  which  few  now  can  form 
an}^  conception.  Robinson  earh*  chose  his  lot  with  the 
friends  of  freedom  ;  and  from  that  day  to  his  last,  reckless 
of  personal  consequences,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  righting 
of  the  wrong,  and  to  the  most  fearless  discussions  of  public 
men  and  measures. 

"  His  life,  like  all  lives  whose  record  men  do  not  willingly 
let  die,  was  one  of  steady  toil  and  struggle.  Unsparing 
critic  and  iconoclast,  wielding  a  pen  devoted  to  the  unmask- 
ing of  hj-pocris}'  and  shams  and  knaver}",  '  to  razing  out 
rotten  opinion  which  writes  men  down  after  their  seeming,' 
he  aroused  antagonisms  where  easy-going  men  would  gloss 
over  prejudices  and  bigotries  and  knaveries.  Men  who  knew 
him  slightly  thought  him  malignant :  we  who  knew  him  well 
knew  that  ever}'  utterance  of  his  was  the  expression  of  the 
sincerest  and  profoundest  conviction  of  truth  and  duty ; 
that,  vigorous  as  was  the  bow,  there  was  no  venom  in  the 
shaft ;  that  in  all  the  ink  which  flowed  from  his  fertile  pen 
there  never  mingled  a  drop  of  malice  or  unkindness. 

"  IIOw  my  heart  warms  as  I  think  of  the  brave  and  true 
men  who  led  the  sacramental  hosts  through  the  long  struggle 
which  placed  Massacluisetts  openly,  activel}',  and  perpetually 
on  the  side  of  freedom,  and  won  their  final  victor^'  in  placing 
Jolm  A.  Andrew  in  the  cliair  of  AVintlirop  and  Hancock ! 
There  were  giants  on  tlie  earth  in  those  da3's.  Omitting  the 
living  whom  Massachusetts  delights  to  honor  still,  —  not, 
perhaps,  with  the  offices  whicli  have  come  too  much  to  be 
distributed  hy  the  ward-room  politicians,  but  with  the  honor 
and  reverence  which  Massachusetts  always  awards  to  high 
qualities  and  great  services,  — I  ma^-  properl}-  recall  the  names 
of  a  few  of  that  noble  arm}^  of  heroes  who  led  in  those  battles 
of  freedom,  and  have  gone  to  their  reward,  —  Steplien  C. 
Phillips,  Horace  Mann,  Theodore  Parker,  Erastus  Hopkins, 
Cliarlcs  Allen,  Edward  L.  Keyes,  Seth  Webb,  jun.,  James 
W.  Stone,  Burlingamc,  Andrew,  Sumner,  Howe,  "Wilson. 
Of  these  and  Avith  tliese  was  Robinson,  consulted  and  trusted 


XVi  INTRODUCTION. 

as  one  of  our  wisest  and  best.  Whether  there  was  counsel 
to  be  taken,  or  work  to  be  done,  the  circle  was  imperfect 
without  him. 

"  Robinson  wielded  no  mercenar3'  pen.  During  a  portion 
of  liis  active  life  he  held  office,  in  which  he  did  faithful  work, 
and  received  fair  pa}'.  For  other  work  as  a  journalist  he 
received  moderate  compensation,  never  large  ;  but  few  know, 
none  so  well  as  I,  how  vast  the  amount  of  work  he  did  for 
which  he  received  and  expected  no  reward  but  the  conscious- 
ness of  dut}'  done.  I  was  associated  with  him  for  years  in 
these  labors,  and  I  know  that  his  anon3'mous  and  unpaid  work 
often  equalled  his  professional  and  public  work.  His  whole 
life  was  almost  literally  a  daily  struggle  for  his  dail}'  bread  ; 
but  no  consideration  of  personal  gain  ever  tempted  him  to 
any  act  not  in  accordance  with  his  sincerest  convictions, 
and  no  fear  of  personal  sacrifice  or  of  pecuniar}'  loss  ever 
deterred  him  from  doing  brave  battle  for  ever}-  good  cause. 

"  '  The  fathers,  where  are  they?  and  the  prophets,  do  they 
live  forever  ? '  One  by  one  our  honored  leaders  and  loved 
friends  have  gone,  until  more  are  with  them  than  with  us. 
We  miss  them  all.  Robinson's  place,  the  last  made  vacant, 
most  freshly  reminds  us  of  our  loss.  We  miss  him  from  our 
grave  councils  on  public  affairs  ;  from  the  cheerful  gatherings 
for  good  fellowship  which  he  so  much  enjoyed  and  inspired  ; 
from  the  Club,  where,  for  twenty-five  years,  men  of  thought 
and  men  of  action  met  to  take  sweet  counsel  together,  and 
strengthen  each  other  for  the  battle  of  life.  Their  memories 
remain  ;  and,  now  that  they  are  beyond  the  reach  of  mortal 
siglit,  good  omens  cheer  us,  manly  purposes  inspire  us,  from 
the  bright  track  of  their  faithful,  fruitful  lives." 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  point  out  how  well  the  writer  of 
this  Memoir,  the  editor  of  this  volume,  has  performed  her 
affectionate  task.  None  had  a  better  right  to  do  it,  or  could 
have  done  it  better.  To  the  picture  she  has  given  of  her 
husband  a  few  touches  may  be  added ;  but  hardly  a  feature 
that  she  has  drawn  need  be  shaded  by  criticism,  so  discern- 
ing are  the  eyes  of  afiection. 


INTRODUCTION.  XVii 

Our  satirist  and  friend  was  not  a  commanding  person  ;  nor 
can  he  be  called  gi'cat,  though  he  had  some  of  tlie  least  com- 
mon elements  of  greatness.  A  little  more  reverence  and 
reserve  would  have  graced  his  character,  and  softened  the 
asperit}'  of  his  pen  ;  a  little  more  enthusiasm  would  have 
brought  him  nearer  to  the  ideal  standard.  He  had  a  strong 
Saxon  sense,  not  too  much  refined,  such  as  Defoe  and  Frank- 
lin showed ;  and  he  belonged  in  their  class,  rather  than 
among  moralists  and  idealists.  He  was  of  the  sturd}",  jest- 
ing, warm-hearted,  reliable  people,  who  keep  the  middle  way 
of  life,  not  much  disturbed  bj'  visions  or  ambitions.  Of  such 
sturdy  and  level  qualities  were  the  plain  people  of  New 
England  and  of  the  mother-countr}- :  they  stood  b}-  their  col- 
ors ;  they  minded  their  own  Ijiisiness ;  and  Avhat  was  the 
achievement  of  one  was  the  profit  and  glory  of  all.  Of  this 
sort  was  William  Robinson  :  he  asked  little  of  the  world, 
was  content  with  his  lot,  expected  to  work  hard,  to  "  do  citi- 
zen's dut}',"  speak  his  mind  freel}',  stand  by  his  friends, 
remind  his  enemies  that  the}-  were  vulnerable  ;  in  short,  to 
make  one  in  that  busy,  free-born,  progressi\'e  multitude 
which  the  American  people  are.  He  neither  sought  nor 
valued  distinction  ;  nor  did  he  avoid  singularity  or  reproach 
in  the  line  of  his  duty.  As  Emerson  said  of  Theodore 
Parker,  he  was  one  "who  does  not  in  generous  company  sa}- 
generous  things,  and  in  mean  compan}-  base  things,  but  says 
one  thing,  now  cheerfully-,  now  indignantly-,  and  always 
because  he  must."  Alas  that  we  shall  hear  his  voice  no 
longer ! 

CoNCOED,  May  1, 1877. 


MEMOIR. 


•'  O  friend !  my  bosom  said, 
Tlirough  thee  alone  the  sky  is  arched, 
Through  thee  the  rose  is  red  ; 
All  things  through  thee  take  nobler  form, 
And  look  beyond  the  earth  ; 
The  mill-round  of  our  fate  appears 
A  sun-path  in  thy  worth. 
Me  too  thy  nobleness  has  taught 
To  master  my  despair  ; 
The  fountains  of  my  hidden  life 
Are  through  thy  friendship  fair." 

Emerson. 


MEMOIR    OF   "WAEEINGTON." 


BY  MES.  W.  S.  ROBINSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PARENTAGE  AXD  BOYHOOD. 

(1S18-183T.) 

We  can  never  do  more  than  approximate  to  the  truth  about  the  life  of  any  per- 
son, big  or  little ;  and  this  limitation  must  be  borne  in  mind,  for  no  man  or  woman 
ever  yet  lived  who  was  known  to  anybody  else,  —  perhaps  nobody  who  was  ever 
known  to  himself  or  hereelf  with  any  degree  of  accuracy;  and,  if  Froude  and 
Macaulay  have  made  mistakes,  there  are  plenty  of  bookmakers  who  will  correct 
their  errors.—  Waekingtox. 

Op  the  many  distinguished  wi'iters  who  have  from  time  to 
time  made  Concord  in  Massachusetts  their  residence,  it  is  a 
curious  fact  that  "  AVarrington "  (William  S.  Robinson)  is 
the  onl}^  one  widely  known,  with  one  exception,  who  was 
"native  and  to  the  manner  born"  of  that  rare  old  town. 
The  exception  is  Henry  David  Thoreau,  "Warrington's" 
contemporar}'  and  schoolmate.  Ilis  ancestors  had  lived  there 
for  two  generations  on  the  father's  and  mother's  side  ;  both 
families  having  moved  there  just  in  time  to  take  their  share 
in  the  stirring  incidents  of  the  Revolution.  Thougli  Mr. 
Robinson  would  have  been  one  of  the  fust  to  "  smile  at  the 
claims  of  long  descent,"  yet,  for  the  sake  of  those  Avho  like  to 
know  the  ancestiy  of  a  man  in  whom  they  are  interested,  it 
will  be  well  to  say  that  he  could  trace  his  origin  through  five 
generations  of  honest  tanners,  shoemakers,  and  hatters,  to  ii 
forefather  whose  will  is  still  in  existence,  and  to  an  ances- 
tress whose  strong  and  noble  cliaracter  has  been  transmitted 

1 


2  MEMOIR  OF 

to  numberless  descendants,  and  is  easily  seen  in  that  of  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  the  most  eminent  of  them  all.^ 

The  Robinson  family  were  of  Westford  in  Massachusetts : 
the  Cogswells  (on  the  mother's  side)  were  of  Boston.  The 
families  intermarried  at  the  same  time  (in  1773)  on  both  sides, 
and  continued  to  do  so.  Thus  Mr.  Robinson's  parents  had  a 
common  ancestry,  were  own  cousins,  and  also  what  is  called 
"  double  cousins  ;  "  and  the  record  of  one  family'  is  substan- 
tially the  record  of  both.  The  Robinsons  seem  to  have  been 
made  up  of  conflicting  elements  ;  for  we  find  a  non-resistant 
and  a  brave  fighter  dividing  the  honors  of  the  family'  name 
between  them.  In  1659,  one  "William  Robinson,  a  Quaker, 
was  arrested  with  other  Quakers,  as  he  came  from  Salem  to 
Charlestown  ferry,  by  a  company  of  people,  and,  after  some 
scoffing  and  mocking  examinations,  was  sent  to  prison : 
there  he  was  searched,  and  his  journal  of  places  where  he 
had  been  was  taken  awa}-.  Shortly  after,  he  was  hanged 
on  Boston  Common,  and  all  for  opinion's  sake. 

Lieut. -Col.  John  Robinson,^  who  came  fit)m  Westford  on  the 
19th  of  April,  1775,  to  serve  in  the  regiment  of  minute-men 
under  Col.  "William  Prescott,  was  without  doubt  the  brother 
of  William  S.  Robinson's  grandfather,  and  of  one  of  his 
grandmothers.  "This  brave  colonel,"  as  Dr.  Ripley  calls 
him,  when  the  command  was  given  to  "march  into  the 
middle  of  the  town  to  defend  their  homes,  or  die  in  the 
attempt,"  was  requested  b}' Major Buttrick  "to  accompanj" 
him,  and  lead  the  soldiers  in  double  file  to  the  scene  of 
action."  History  tells  us  how  well  the  "rank  and  file" 
were  led  on  that  eventful  day.  The  women  of  the  famil}' 
were  not  idle ;  for  while  their  husbands  were  away  at  ' '  the 
Bridge,"  fighting  for  the  state  and  country,  one  of  them,  Mr. 
Robinson's  grandmother,  at  home  alone,  preparing  food  for 
the  returning  heroes,  thought  anxiously  of  the  church  near 
by,  and  its  sacred  vessels.  She  therefore  went  and  got  the 
silver  communion-service  from  the  adjoining  meeting-house, 

1  See  Appendix  A. 

2  See  Shattuck's  History  of  Concord. 


''WABRINGTON."  3 

and  buried  it  in  the  soap-barrel  in  her  cellar,  in  the  arch 
under  a  great  chimne}'  which  is  still  standing ;  and  it  staid 
there  safe  all  through  the  fight.  This  same  brave  woman 
threatened  to  shoot  two  British  soldiers,  who,  after  the  first 
fight,  had  made  their  way,  famished  and  footsore,  over  the 
hill  behind  her  house.  They  were  so  hungr}'  and  tired,  and 
begged  so  piteously  for  something  to  eat,  that  she  fed  them 
instead.  She  would  not  let  them  in,  being  alone,  but  sup- 
plied them  from  the  window,  making  them  eat  on  the  stoop 
outside  the  door. 

Concerning  the  Cogswell  side  of  the  famil}',  I  am  able  to 
quote  from  a  paper  written  by  Mr.  Robinson  in  1871  for  the 
use  of  the  "  Social  Circle,"  a  club  of  gentlemen  in  Concord, 
of  which  his  grandfather  was  the  founder  and  the  last  sur- 
vivor of  the  original  twelve  members  :  — 

"  Emerson  Cogswell,  of  Welsh  descent,  was  the  son  of  Emerson 
and  Mary  (Pecker)  Cogswell.  Emerson,  senior,  was  a  tanner,  who 
carried  on  business  near  the  stone  bridge  in  Ipswich.  Mary  Pecker 
was  the  daughter  of  James  and  Bridget  Pecker.  Pecker  was  a  wharf- 
inger in  Boston.  [There  was  a  sister  of  Mary  Pecker,  named  Susannah, 
who  kept  a  '  pastry  school,'  and  lived  to  a  great  age.  I  have  seen 
some  patriotic  verses  written  by  her  against  the  iise  of  tea  in  the  pre- 
Revolutionary  days.]  I  do  not  know  when  Emerson  Cogswell,  senior, 
died ;  but  Mary,  his  wife,  lived  in  Concord  many  years  a  widows  with 
her  son  Emerson,  and  kept  school  in  the  house,  which  her  grand- 
children attended.  John  Cogswell  Avas  the  first  principal  inhabitant 
of  Ipswich.  'The  History  of  Essex'  (Chebacco)  contains  all  that  I 
know  of  the  Cogswell  family,  including  a  reference  to  the  patent 
granted  to  Lord  Humphrey  Cogswell  in  1447.  John  Cogswell's  son 
William  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Emerson  of  Gloucester ; 
and  this  brought  the  name  of  Emerson  into  the  family.^ 

1  The  Rev.  John  Emerson  of  Gloucester  was  born  in  1G25  in 
England,  and  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Emerson  of  Ipswich,  from  whom 
Mr.  II.  W.  Emerson  is  also  descended,  through  another  son  (or  grand- 
son), Rev.  Joseph  Emerson  of  Wells,  Me.,  and  Mendon,  Mass.  Rev. 
John  Emerson  was  settled  in  Gloucester  in  1GG3,  after  graduating  at 
Harvard  College  in  KJoG.  His  wife  was  Ruth  Syiuonds  of  Ipswich, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Sy.nionds,  a  kinsman  of  John  Winthrop,  and  him- 
self deputy-governor  of  IMassachusets.  Jlary  Emerson,  born  in  1G()5, 
grand-daughter  of  Samuel  Symonds  and  of  Thomas  Emerson,  married 
William  Cogswell,   son  or  grandson  of  John  Cogswell,  who  was  a 


4  MEMOIR  OF 

"Emerson  Cogswell  moved  from  Boston  to  Concord  during  the 
Kevolution.  'Shattuck's  Historj^,'  p.  357,  mentions  liim  as  a  lieu- 
tenant in  1778,  under  Capt.  Thomas  Brown  of  Lexington.  On  p.  353 
he  is  also  mentioned  as  a  second  lieiitenant  of  the  Concord  company, 
under  the  organization  made  in  February,  1776.  In  1776,  the  com- 
pany was  emijloyed  at  Cambridge,  and  in  1778,  for  six  weeks,  in  Rhode 
Island.  So  Cogswell  had  military  employment  very  soon  after  he 
moved  to  Concord ;  and  was  a  patriot,  and  no  Tory.  He  was  one  of 
the  originators  of  the  Club ;  ^  and  he  and  the  father  of  Judge  Fay  (the 

wealthy  London  merchant  settled  in  Ipswich.  "William  S.  Eobinson 
was  descended,  therefore,  from  Thomas  Emerson  and  John  Cogswell, 
who  were  both  ancestors  of  Mr.  Ealph  "Waldo  Emerson.  The  latter 
took  his  middle  name,  "Waldo,  from  an  ancestor,  Cornelius  "\^"aldo  of 
Chelmsford,  whose  daughter  Rebecca  married  Edward  Emerson  about 
1695.  Rebecca  "V\"aldo  was  the  grand-daughter  of  John  Cogswell;  her 
mother,  the  wife  of  Cornelius  "Waldo,  being  Hannah  Cogswell,  the 
sister  or  aunt  of  "William  Cogswell,  who  married  Mary  Emerson  of 
Gloucester.  A  sister  of  this  Maiy  (Emerson)  Cogswell  married  Samuel 
Phillii^s,  and  was  the  ancestress  of  many  persons  of  that  distinguished 
name.  Thus,  by  the  curious  intertwining  of  pedigrees,  "  "S\'arrington  " 
was  connected  by  descent,  as  he  was  by  talent,  with  the  families  of 
Emerson,  Phillips,  Cogswell,  and  others  of  the  clerical  or  "Brahmiu" 
class  in  New  England.  I  take  the  Emerson  Cogswell  who  married 
Mary  Pecker  to  have  been  the  grandson  of  Mary  Emerson  of  Gloucester. 
—  E.  B.  S. 

1  This  club  was  originally  a  committee  of  public  safety,  and  after- 
Avards  became  the  "Social  Circle."  It  has  been  kept  alive  to  this 
day.  The  first  meetings  of  this  club  were  held  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Cogswell,  with  closed  doors  ;  and  no  woman  was  admitted.  The 
women  were  allowed  to  make  all  the  prejiarations  for  a  sumptuous 
supper;  and,  if  any  thing  was  wanted  during  the  feast,  it  was  handed 
through  the  half-open  door.  Even  when  the  original  number  had 
dwindled  down  to  only  Mr.  Cogswell  and  Mr.  Fay,  this  rigid  exclusion 
of  the  prescribed  sex  was  kept  up  at  Mr.  Cogswell's  house  at  least; 
"  for  mother"  (says  Mrs.  Davis,  to  whom  Mr.  Robinson  refers,  and  who 
is  my  authority)  "  was  sent  off  to  bed,  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  way."  It 
has,  however,  leaked  out  that  they  did  nothing  more  mysterious  than  to 
eat,  sing  songs,  and  tell  stories;  Mr.  Cogswell  being  the  story-teller,  and 
Mr.  Fay  the  singer.  This  club  was  revived  before  jNIr.  Cogswell's  death. 
Dr.  Ripley  being  one  of  its  leaders  under  the  new  regime.  "It  now 
numbers  twenty-live  members,"  says  "W.  S.  R.  in  1871,  "who  meet  at 
each  other's  houses  weekly,  during  the  autumn,  winter,  and  spring." 
"Whether  the  custom  of  sending  the  wife  of  the  "  receiving  "  member  to 
bed,  to  "be  out  of  the  way,"  still  holds,  I  have  not  thought  it  wise  to 
inquire.  The  oldest  member  at  present  is  Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  who  was 
elected  in  1822;  and  the  second  in  seniority  is  Mr.  R.  W.  Emerson, 
elected  about  forty  years  ago. —  H.  H.  R. 


"WARRINGTON."  5 

late  S.  P.  P.  Fay  of  Cambridge)  were  the  two  latest  who  survived, 
and  met  regularly,  and  had  good  and  satisfactory  times  together.  Mr. 
Cogswell  was  the  last  sui-vivor. 

"He  went  to  Canada,  in  what  year  I  cannot  say,  but  probably  after 
1790;  for  he  took  with  him  his  son  William,  and  my  father,  William 
Robinson,  who  was  born  in  1776.  They  went  to  Canada  in  order 
to  learn  the  art  and  mystery  of  making  napped  hats ;  and  Mr.  Cogs- 
well is  said  to  have  made  the  first  napped  hats  in  this  region.  (Hats 
were  made  about  ISoO,  on  the  '  Miil-Dam,'  by  Comfort  Foster  and 
others.  My  father  worked  there ;  and  I  used  to  go  to  and  fro  across 
the  Common  with  a  dozen  or  fifteen  hats  strung  over  my  shoulder,  my 
mother  being  one  of  the  trimmers. )  They  went  in  the  winter  with  a 
sleigh  and  two  horses.  Oiiee,  in  crossing  a  lake,^  Mr.  Cogswell,  hear- 
ing the  ice  crack  behind  him,  whipped  up  liis  horses,  and  got  clear; 
but  the  team  behind  liim  went  through,  and  was  lost.  He  failed  in 
business  on  account  of  the  failure  of  one  Brown,  for  whom  lie  was 
'bound.'  Brown  fled  to  Western  Virginia.  Mr.  Cogswell  and  Capt. 
Safford  of  Beverly  went  in  pursuit  of  liira  on  horseback,  and  found 
him  in  Wellsburg.  Tliey  got  some  land  of  Brown ;  but  it  never  was 
of  any  value  to  Mr.  Cogswell  or  to  liis  descendants.  It  remains  a 
part  of  my  landed  property  de  jure.  I  am  willing  to  dispose  of  my 
share  on  the  terms  Henry  Thoreau  was  going  to  take  Fair  Haven 
Cliffs  for  cultivation,  —  'at  the  halves.'  Mr.  Cogswell  was  proba- 
bly absent  many  months.  Mrs.  Davis  (now  livmg  in  Concord),  the 
widow  of  liis  son  William,  remembers  wlien  he  and  SafEord  came 
back  with  a  pair  of  horses,  and  a  sleigh  loaded  with  furs,  one  Sunday 
in  January,  1800.  Meanwhile,  an  attachment  had  been  put  upon  his 
property,  and  the  doors  closed.  'Grandfather  said,'  I  quote  from  a 
letter  to  me,  written  by  a  daughter  of  Mrs.  Davis,  '  that  he  should 
not  run  away,  nor  have  his  doors  closed  by  man,'  and  threw  them 
open.  On  Monday,  the  ofiiccr.  Major  Hosmer,^  took  him  to  jail, 
where  he  remained  until  Capt.  Safford  took  his  property,  and  settled 
the  debts.  The  property  remained  in  the  Safford  family  until  it  went 
into  its  present  hands.  I  was  born  in  the  old  building,^  and  remem- 
ber that  my  father  paid  the  rent  to  John  Safford  of  Beverly.  The 
elm-tree  at  the  corner  of  this  building  was  planted  by  Mr.  Cogswell. 
Mrs.  Davis  remembers  seeing  the  buckets  of  specie  with  which  the 
debt  was  settled  by  Safford. 

"Mrs.  Davis  says  that  Dr.  Eipley  boarded  with  him  from  the  time 
he  (IJipley)  came  to  Concord  (1778)  to  his  marriage.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  Cogswell  foil  out  with  Dr.  Eipley,  and  finally  refused 

1  No  doubt  Lake  Champlain.  —  F.  B.  S.        2  Sheriff  of  Middlesex. 
8  The  "old  block,"  as  it  is  now  called,  which  was  a  nice  liouse  in 
those  days,  and  built  to  accommodate  his  numerous  growing  family. 


6     .  MEMOm  OF 

any  longer  to  hear  Lim.  Mrs.  Davis  remembers  hearing  him  say  that 
he  went  to  hear  the  doctor  preach  as  long  as  he  got  any  information. 
This,  perhaps,  implied  that  others  went  to  hear  him  longer.  I  believe, 
however,  that  he  and  the  doctor  were  on  good  terms  personally ;  and 
the  doctor  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  house.  Mr.  Cogswell  read 
his  Bible  diligently,  and  perhaps  ostentatiously,  as  the  people  went  by 
his  house  to  meeting.  He  advised  (i^robably  coerced)  his  children, 
and  all  the  members  of  his  family,  to  go  to  meeting,  no  doubt  trusting 
to  their  good  sense  to  find  out  when  tlie  supply  of  information  failed; 
and  he  enjoined  upon  John  Eobinson,  my  uncle,  to  remember  the 
texts.  '  If  any  of  the  cliildren  remained  at  home,  it  was  his  practice  to 
keep  them  very  quiet  during  meeting-time.  They  must  either  sit  on 
their  block  and  hear  him  read,  or  read  thfeir  own  books.  But  the 
children  had  to  go  to  meeting  usually,  whether  they  all  had  bonnets 
to  wear  or  not,'  says  Mrs.  Davis.  I  have  in  my  possession  the  Bible 
which  I  suppose  is  the  one  Mr.  Cogswell  read  while  the  people  went 
to  meeting.  It  was  given  to  me  by  my  mother,  and  is  a  Dublin  edi- 
tion of  1714.  The  best  used  parts  of  it  are  the  New  Testament  and  the 
Psalms,  These  parts  bear  tlie  marks  of  a  good  deal  of  thumbing; 
whether  by  Mr.  Cogswell,  I  cannot  say :  but  I  am  quite  sure,  that, 
except  for  the  purpose  of  this  biography,  I  have  not  misused  it.  Mr. 
Cogswell  died  of  consumption,  and  was  buried  in  the  old  hillburying- 
ground.  Dr.  Ripley  attended  the  funeral ;  and  he  said,  if  there  ever 
was  a  good  man,  he  thought  Mr.  Cogswell  was  one,  though  they 
differed  in  their  religious  views. 

"  In  person,  Mr.  Cogswell  was  portly,  not  to  say  fat ;  so  that  his 
wife  was  obliged  to  buckle  his  shoes.  He  woi-e  small-clothes,  and 
went  by  the  title  of  '  lef tenant.'  I  recollect  hearing  my  mother  tell 
of  people  calling  to  inquire,  'Is  Lef  tenant  Cog  sd  III  at  home?'  (Per- 
haps I  may  as  well  say  here  that  the  name  of  Cogswell  is  spelled  with 
only  one  g,  as  in  negro. ) 

' '  Emerson  Cogswell  had  three  wives  and  fourteen  children.  His  first 
wife  was  Eunice  Eobinson;  and  Emerson  Cogswell's  sister  Susannah 
married  my  paternal  grandfather,  Jeremiah  Eobinson.  I  have  not 
the  date  of  Mrs.  Cogswell's  (No.  1)  death;  but  I  suppose  it  was  about 
17SS ;  for  Mr.  Cogswell  was  not  a  man  to  make  unnecessary  delays, 
and  his  second  marriage  took  place  May  3,  1 789.  The  third  wife  — 
be  patient  —  was  Elizabeth  Buttrick,  widow  of  Nathan  Buttrick  of 
Concord,^  whose  maiden  name  was  Bateman. 

"  Since  this  sketch  was  completed,  I  have  received  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Heywood,  the  town-clerk  of  Concord,  to  whom  I  applied  for 
information,  who  says,  '  I  find  by  the  record  that  Emerson  Cogswell 
died  May  13,  1808,  aged  sixty-four;  and  the  only  oflice  that  I  find 

1  Mother  of  ilrs.  Davis. 


"WARRINGTOX."  7 

he  held  was  that  of  hogreeve,  probably  on  account  of  his  second 
marriage ;  ^  and  that  was  in  1794.  At  that  time,  that  office  was  con- 
sidered a  good  position.'  The  tJdrd  marriage,  Mr.  Heywood  should 
have  said.  I  am  glad  to  find  that  hogreeves  were  so  highly  esteemed 
in  Concord.  The  uninstructed  intellect  would  have  supposed  the 
office  of  town-clerk  or  of  selectman  to  be  superior  in  dignity,  if  not 
usefulness. 

"  The  only  additional  item  I  am  at  present  able  to  supply  is  the 
following,  which  I  copy  from  the  legislative  resolves  of  1789 :  — 

On  the  Petition  of  Emerson  Cofjsioell. 

Resolved,  That  Ephraim  Wood,  Esq.,  administrator  de  bonis  non  on 
the  estate  of  Robert  Cuming,  Esq.  (late  of  Concord,  deceased),  be  aud 
he  hereby  is  authorized  to  give  a  deed  of  a  small  piece  of  land  lying 
near  Concord  meeting-house,  that  was  sold  by  John  Cuming,  Esq., 
former  administrator  on  the  estate  of  the  said  Robert  Cuming,  to  the 
said  Emerson  Cogswell,  the  said  Cogswell  paying  for  the  same  accord- 
ing to  agreement. 

Sent  down  for  concurrence. 

SAanjEL  Phillips,  Jun.,  President. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives, 
Jan.  31,  1789. 
Approved :  Read  and  concurred : 

John  Hancock.  Theodore  Sedgwick,  Jun,  Speaker." 

Mr.  Robinson's  ancestors  on  both  sides  seem  to  have 
esteemed  truth  and  duty  above  the  things  of  this  world  ;  and, 
though  they  were  people  of  what  was  then  called  good  con- 
dition, I  do  not  find  a  wealthy  person  among  them  after 
1734.  At  the  time  of  his  birth,  in  1818,  the  wheel  of  the 
family  fortune  had  reached  the  lowest  point  in  its  descent ; 
so  that  it  might  be  said  he  was  born  of  a  family  in  reduced 
fortunes,  if  it  were  b}'  any  means  certain  that  the  lack  of 
monc}',  and  what  it  supplies,  does  in  our  country  reduce  the 
real  fortunes  of  a  family  in  those  things  which  are,  after  all, 
the  most  desirable. 

Pilgrims  to  Concord,  on  their  way  to  the  homes  of  Emer- 
son and  Alcott,  after  leaving  the  Unitarian  church,  where 
Dr.  Ripley  (grandfather  b}'  marriage  of  Mr.  Emerson) 
preached,   will   pass   on   the  right  a  block  of  old  wooden 

1  It  was  considered  a  good  joke  in  those  old-fashioned  times  to  put 
the  new  married  man  of  the  village  into  this  office  at  election-time. 


8  MEMOIR  OF 

houses.  In  one  of  these  houses,  under  the  shadow  of  the 
elm-tree  planted  by  his  grandfather,  Emerson  Cogswell, 
"Warrington" — William  Steven.s  Robinson  —  was  born 
Dec.  7,  1818.  His  father  was  William  Robinson,  named, 
probably,  for  William  Cogswell  of  Ipswich ;  his  mother, 
Mai'tha  Cogswell  Robinson.  He  was  the  sixth  and  last 
child  of  his  parents.  "The  first  time  I  saw  him,"  says  a 
friend  of  his  mother,  whose  kind  eyes  still  look  out  over  the 
sunny  plains  of  Concord,  "  he  was  two  years  old,  and  came 
into  my  house  with  his  mother,  holding  fast  b}'  her  dress  ; 
and  he  always  went  with  her  everj'where  till  he  was  a  great 
boy,  preferring  her  company  to  the  rude  pla^^s  and  games 
of  his  schoolmates.  For  he  was  not  like  his  brothers,  or 
like  other  boj's,  and  never  played  with  them,  but  was  always 
reading  great  books,  or  cutting  little  sticks  of  wood  for  his 
mother,  alone  in  the  back-3-ard.  A  good  and  obedient  boy 
always,  and  looked  as  he  did  in  after-life.  He  alwaj's  kept 
his  looks.  His  health  was  not  robust,  though  he  was  never 
ill.  His  head  was  too  large  for  his  body ;  and  no  one 
thought  he  would  live  to  be  a  man." 

He  went  to  the  town  school  in  Concord,  kept  in  the  little 
brick  schoolhouse,  now  an  engine-house  (opposite  the  Town 
Hall),  —  a  "mixed  school,  where  bo3's  and  girls  studied 
Latin,  and  parsed  Pope's  '  Essay  on  Man  '  together."  ^  At 
this  brick  schoolhouse  he  acquired  all  the  education  that  ever 
came  to  him  from  the  recitation-room.  Whatever  other 
knowledge  he  gained  was  found  in  his  reading  and  his  con- 
tact with  life  and  men  ;  for  he  never  went  to  college.  There 
was  the  "Catermy"  (Concord  Academy),  as  the  boys  of 
the  brick  schoolhouse  used  to  call  it,  established  b}'  some 
of  the  parents  who  received  better  pay  for  their  labor  than 
that  given  to  hatters  and  shoemakers ;  but  Mr.  Robinson 
never  went  to  it,  his  father  being  too  poor  to  send  him,  even 
if  he  had  desired  to  do  so.  The  Latin  grammar  was  taught 
in  the  town  school  in  preference  to  the  English,  and  "  com- 

1  "W.  S.  K.  in  1868. 


''warbington:'  9 

position^  and  the  rule  of  three"  were  well  drilled  into  the 
minds  of  the  young  learners.  The  art  of  composition  was 
specially-  taught ;  and  in  looking  over  the  productions  of  Mi;, 
Robinson  and  his  sister,  at  the  ages  of  eleven  and  thirteen, 
I  am  struck  by  the  clearness  of  st^^le  and  diction  in  the 
attempts  of  these  j'oung  children.  If  "  reading  and  writing 
come  b}'  nature,"  it  is  not  much  matter  what  methods  are 
used.  If  they  can  be  taught  successfully,  the  old  Concord 
school  of  fort3'-five  3'ears  ago  had  found  out  the  secret. 

The  following  composition,  written  at  thirteen  3'ears  of 
age,  is  copied  verbatim:  — 

A  SHORT  SKETCH  OF  MY  LIFE. 

I  was  born  in  Concord  7th  of  December  1818 ;  and  have  resided  in 
this  town  ever  since  tliere-fore  a  history  of  my  life  cannot  be  long 
or  very  interesthig  I  went  to  Miss  Hunts  school  2  yrs  and  to  Miss 
Harriet  Moore's  1  yr.  When  5  yrs  old  I  went  to  Mr.  Dinsmore  in  this 
school-house  1  year  and  ^  then  to  Mr.  Forbush  1  year  then  to  Mr. 
Jarvis^  1  year  then  to  Mr  Wood^  1  year  then  to  Mr  Merrill  1  year  to 
Mr  Graham^  1  yr  to  Mr  Carter  3  months  to  Mr  Clark  3  months  to  Mr 
Jackson  3  months  and  then  to  Mr  Brown  the  present  master  Mr 
Dinsmore  (now  dead)  had  kept  1  year  0  months  before  I  went  to 
him.  I  believe  he  was  liked  very  much  Mr  Forbush  was  very  liberal 
with  his  ruler  and  Avas  not  liked  very  much  by  the  Scholars.  Mr  Jar- 
vis  was  liked  very  well  Mr.  Wood  also  he  was  the  one  who  first 
formed  the  Club  '^  Mr  Merrill  was  a  good  master  Mr  Graham  was  a 

1  When  I  was  a  little  boy  —  oh!  such  a  long  time  ago!  —  I  got  a  silver 
medal,  manufactured  out  of  half  a  dollar,  for  the  best  "composition" 
at  school.  It  was  on  this  topic,  appointed  by  the  master,  —  "  Learning 
is  better  than  house  and  land."  It  was  an  eloquent  and  convincing 
dissertation,  and  established  the  truth  of  the  proposition  so  fully  and 
clearly,  that  I  really  believe,  if  tlie  "composition"  could  bo  now 
published,  there  would  not  hereafter  be  any  dispute  as  to  the  truth  of 
it,  "in  the  abstract."  It  was  what  they  call  a  "clincher."  I  only 
remember,  however,  the  beginning,  which  consisted  of  the  personal 
pronoun  "I,"  and  the  verb  "think."  I  have  always  held  to  the  doc- 
trine -vvhich  I  then  so  clearly  demonstrated,  and  have  acted  upon  it: 
for,  though  I  have  little  learning,  I  have  less  house;  and  my  land  is 
nothing.  —W.  S.  R.  in  18D9. 

2  Dr.  Edward  Jarvis.  3  Rev.  Horatio  Wood  of  Lowell. 
*  Rev.  John  Graham,  afterwards  a  famous  antislavery  worker. 

fi  This  club  was  founded  in  1827  for  the  boy-members  of  Mr.  Wood's 


10  MEMOIR  OF 

very  good  master  and  kept  very  good  order.  He  was  changed  for  a 
worse  one,  Mr  Carter  who  was  very  severe.  He  was  changed  for 
a  worse  one  Mr  Clarke  who  kept  no  order  at  all.  The  ill  effects  of 
were  visible  the  New  Master  Mr  Jackson  had  to  keep  his  eye  on 
them  for  some  time.  Mr  J.  being  ill  was  succeeded  by  Mr  Brown  the 
present  master.  I  began  to  study  Latin  at  Mr  Jarvis  and  have 
studied  Grammar  the  Reader  a  little  Virgil  and  Cicero  I  cannot  say 
that  I  have  made  much  Progress  I  have  studied  Geography  Arithmetic 
Philosophy  a  little.  I  do  not  think  that  I  can  improve  it  any  more  or 
add  any  to  it  except  that  I  was  13  yeai's  old  the  7th  of  December,  3831. 
1832  Jan  4th.  Wm.   S.  EoBINSON. 

At  the  same  age  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  brother  about 
going  to  college,  in  which  he  says,  "You  ask  whether  I  am 
going  to  college  ?  I  think  not.  A  college-life  appears  to  me 
to  be  a  great  deal  harder  than  any  other.  If  I  expected  to 
be  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  or  a  congressman,  or  a 
'Daniel  Webster,'  I  should  go  to  college;  but  a  person 
may  be  President  of  the  United  States,  and  3'et  not  go  to 
college.  Henry  Clay  never  went  to  college,  and  Benjamin 
Franklin,  neither.  I  don't  expect  to  be  an}^  of  these  great 
characters.  I  think  I  shall  learn  a  trade,  though  I  have  not 
determined  what  one."  He  was  considered  so  promising  a 
scholar,  that  it  was  often  urged  upon  his  father  to  send  him 
to  college  at  all  hazards.  One  gentleman,  a  Dr.  Small, 
offered  to  help  him  enter  Harvard  ;  saying  that  he  could  work 
his  way  through  by  doing  some  work,  such  as  sweeping, 
building  fires,  &e.  Said  his  father,  "He  shall  never  take  a 
broom  there  :  if  he  can't  get  a  living  without  rubbing  against 
that  college,  he  may  beg."  Perhaps  the  father  had  in  his 
mind  the  case  of  a  young  man  of  the  town  who  had  been 
sent  to  college  at  great  expense  and  privation  to  the  rest  of 
the  famity,  and  had  returned  to  his  father's  farm ;  and  all 
the  good  he  received  from  his  college-education  was,  that  he 
was  sent  year  after  year  to  represent  his  native  town  in  the 
General  Court. 

school.  It  was  called  "  The  Young  Declaiming  and  Debating  Society." 
"W.  S.  Robinson  Avas  secretary,  in  his  turn  (a  new  secretary  was  chosen 
every  third  week),  as  early  as  1830  (when  he  was  twelve  years  old);  and 
the  subject  for  debate  was,  "  Ought  Negroes  to  be  allowed  to  vote?" 


''WARRINGTON."  11 

*  Mr.  Robinson's  opinion  of  a  college-education  for  himself 
may  have  been  based  on  the  fact  that  the  family  means  were 
not  sutRcient  to  afford  such  an  advantage  to  one  of  its  mem- 
bers without  defrauding  the  rest ;  and,  as  he  expressed  it 
later  in  life,  "It  is  not  fair  to  sacrifice  the  women  of  the 
famil}-,  that  the  boy  or  boys  may  have  a  chance  of  education  : 
they  have  no  right  to  such  a  lion's  share."  Perhaps  he 
thought  of  his  sisters,  one  of  whom,  Lucy,  a  little  older 
than  he,  was  his  companion  and  helper  in  all  things,  and 
who,  as  bright  and  studious  as  himself,  led  him  in  all  his 
studies.  He  loved  this  sister,  who  resembled  him,  very 
dearl}' ;  and  their  tender  relations  continued  as  long  as  she 
lived:  she  died  3'oung.  Was  it  strange  that  this  "  mother- 
boy,"  this  companion  of  a  sister  as  bright  and  promising  as 
himself,  should  be  one  of  the  first  advocates  of  the  political 
equalit}'  of  the  sexes  ? 

Uis  schoolmates  remember  him  as  a  good  scholar,  and 
a  boy  who  always  knew  his  lessons,  —  a  quiet,  gentle  bo}'', 
studious,  and  fond  of  books ;  and  one  of  his  teachers,  Dr. 
Edward  Jarvis,  said  of  him,  that  "he  always  stood  at 
the  head  of  his  class,  and  he  never  gave  me  any  trouble  in 
his  life."  Concord  even  then  had  a  public  library,  though 
not  so  complete  as  it  now  possesses  through  the  munifi- 
cence of  Mr.  Munroe ;  and  the  young  student  read  all  the 
books  that  came  in  his  wa}'.  He  has  been  described  to 
me  as  a  little  bo}',  small  even  for  his  age,  sitting  across  the 
door-sill  of  the  old  house  all  the  summer  afternoons,  —  while 
the  other  boj's  were  in  the  woods  or  on  the  water,  —  with 
a  book  almost  as  large  as  himself,  reading  the  hours  awaj'. 
Not  lilcing  always  to  enjoy  alone  the  good  things  he  read,  he 
frequcnll}'  took  his  book  and  went  to  a  neighboring  shoe- 
maker's shop,  and  read  long  stories  and  novels  to  the  work- 
men at  their  lasts  ;  and  they  enjoyed  it  as  much  as  he  did. 
He  remembered  reading  Cooper's  novel,  "The  Pioneers," 
and  Scott's  "  Pirate,"  in  this  wa}- ;  and  saj's  in  one  of  his 
letters,  "One  of  the  hands  was  named  Harry  Hooper,  a 
curious  character,  not  very  bright,  and  said  to  be  the  illegiti- 


12  MEMOIR  OF 

mates  on  of  a  British  soldier  or  officer  who  was  prisoner  of 
war  during  the  Revolution.  He  died  in  the  poor-house  in 
Concord,  a  curious  waif,"  This  studious  habit  followed 
him  through  his  whole  life.  As  Macaulay's  biographer 
says  of  that  great  author,  "  He  could  neither  swim,  nor 
row,  nor  skate,  and  seldom  crossed  a  saddle,  and  never  will- 
ingly." 

Among  his  schoolmates  were  John  and  Plenry  D.  Thoreau  ; 
"  David  Henry,"  as  he  was  then  called.  Of  the  elder,  John, 
Mr.  Robinson  was  very  fond.  He  was  a  genial  and  pleasant 
^•outh,  and  much  more  popular  with  his  schoolmates  than  his 
more  celebrated  brother.  Mr.  Robinson  had  a  high  opinion 
of  his  talents,  and  said  that  he  was  then  quite  as  promising  as 
Henry  D.  He  died  young,  in  a  ver^'  singular  manner.  From 
a  letter  written  at  the  time  to  Mr.  Robinson,  I  am  able  to 
quote  the  following  account  of  his  death  :  — 

"  Fec.  2,  1842. 

"  I  cannot  close  this  hasty  note  without  referring  to  the  svidden 
death  of  our  friend  Thoreau,  whom  you  knew  and  loved  so  well. 
The  cause  seems  very  simple.  He  was  strojiping  his  razor  on  Satur- 
day afternoon,  and  cut  off  a  little  piece  of  the  end  of  his  finger  next 
to  the  little  one,  on  his  left  hand.  It  was  very  slight,  —  just  the  skin 
deep  enovigh  to  draw  hlood.  He  replaced  the  skin,  and  immediately 
put  on  a  rag,  without  letting  it  bleed.  He  paid  no  more  attention  to  it 
for  two  or  three  days,  when  he  found  it  began  to  prow  painful ;  and  on 
the  next  Saturday  he  found  that  the  skin  had  adhered  to  the  finger 
slightly  on  one  end,  but  the  other  part  had  mortified.  In  the  even- 
ing he  went  to  Dr.  Bartlett,  who  dressed  the  finger;  and,  with  no 
apprehension  of  further  difficulty,  he  went  home.  On  his  way  he  had 
strange  sensations,  acute  pain  in  various  parts  of  his  body;  and 
he  was  hardly  able  to  get  home.  The  next  morning  (Sunday)  he 
complained  of  stiffness  of  the  jaws ;  and  at  night  he  was  seized  with 
violent  spasms,  and  lockjaw  set  in.  On  being  told  that  he  must  die 
a  speedy  and  painful  death,  he  was  unmoved.  '  Is  there  no  hope  ? ' 
he  said.  '  None,'  replied  the  doctor.  Then,  although  his  friends 
were  almost  distracted  around  him,  he  was  calm,  saying,  '  The  cup 
that  my  Father  gives  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?  '  He  bade  his  friends 
all  good-by  ;  and  twice  he  mentioned  your  name.  Not  long  before  he 
died,  in  the  intervals  of  his  suffering,  he  thought  he  had  written 
something,  and  said,  'I  will  carry  it  down  to  Robinson:  he  will  like 
to  read  it.'    He  died  Tuesday,  at  two  o'clock,  p.m.,  with  as  much 


"WARRINGTON."  13 

cheerfulness  and  composure  of  mind  as  if  only  going  a  short  jour- 
ney." 1 

The  Concord  Debating  Society  was  formed  in  1827 ; 
and  William  Robinson  soon  became  its  secretar}-.  He  was 
librarian  of  the  Sunday  school  for  several  years,  —  quite  an 
office  for  a  lad ;  and  his  grave  manner  while  distributing 
the  books  is  still  remembered  b}^  his  old  Sunday-school  com- 
panions. He  was  a  frequenter  of  l^'ceums,  and  soon  began 
to  read  papers  on  temperance  and  antislavety  ;  for  Concord 
had  even  then  begun  to  ' '  breed  men  for  a  combat  which 
involves  personal  rights."  So  passed  the  years  of  his  boy- 
hood in  quiet,  pleasant  Concord,  which  he  calls  at  this  time 
(in  1834,  in  a  letter  to  his  sister)  the  "  king  of  towns,"  —  read- 
ing, studying,  and  thinking  the  thoughts  of  a  bo}-.  Here  he 
attended  his  first  convention,  and  had  a  bird's-eye  view  of 
the  splendors  of  Masonry,  which  secret  order  he  opposed  all 
through  his  life,  though  his  father  was  a  great  Mason. ^ 

1  It  was  to  the  pure  spirit  of  this  brother  that  Henry  Thoreau  dedi- 
cated his  book,  "  A  Week  on  tlie  Concord  and  Merrimack  Rivers: "  — 

"  ^Vlle^e'er  thou  gocst  who  sailed  with  me, 
Be  thou  my  JNIuse,  my  brother." 

2  The  first  convention  I  ever  attended  was  one  held  by  the  anti- 
Masonic  party  in  Concord.  As  I  stood  in  the  doorway,  hat  in  hand, 
going  to  and  from  school,  I  heard  a  letter  read  from  Edward  Everett. 
I  forget  the  i>urport  of  it  now:  but  I  remember  that  its  contents,  as  I 
told  them  to  the  editor  of  the  Whig  newspaper,  created  in  him  an  im- 
mense sensation;  and  he  immediately  began,  in  his  paper,  to  clamor 
for  its  publication.  But  it  was  never  published.  Q'hcre  is  a  mystery 
about  that  letter.  ISIr.  Everett,  jierhaps,  remembers  what  it  was.  B. 
F.  Hallett  knew  about  it;  but  he  carried  the  knowledge  of  it  away  with 
him,  and  no  doubt  it  altogether  passed  from  his  recollection  before 
he  died.  I  am  sure  it  never  was  printed ;  and  equally  sure,  that,  if 
printed,  it  would  be  considered  a  curiosity.  So  much  I  remember: 
the  rest  is  gone.  Mr.  Everett  was  A'ery  ambitious,  and  very  anxious 
to  get  votes,  and  considerably  disposed  to  dabble  in  anti-Masonry. 
Whether,  at  this  particular  moment,  he  was  getting  into  it,  or  out 
of  it,  I  cannot  remember.  I  have  a  history  of  the  Corinthian  Lodge, 
Concord,  from  which  it  appears,  that,  during  tlie  thirteen  years  from 
1832  to  1844  inclusive,  only  three  members  were  initiated.  From  183G 
to  1844,  there  were  only  four  regular  meetings.  I  well  remember  the 
change  which  came  over  the  spirit  and  prospects  of   the   lodge  in 


14  MEMOIR  OF 

In  1835,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  began  to  think  of 
earning  his  living  ;  and,  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  about  learn- 
ing a  trade,  he  writes,  "  I  should  like  the  printer's  trade  as 
well  as  any  other.  Mr.  Bemis  wants  an  apprentice."  He 
accordingly  went  into  the  office  of  "The  Gazette,"  which 
Mr.  G.  F.  Bemis  then  published,  to  learn  to  set  type.  In 
one  paper,  sent  to  his  brother  at  Dedham  soon  after,  is  a 
"stickful"  setup  by  himself  in  place  of  an  advertisement 
removed  for  the,  purpose.     It  is  probably  some  of  his  first 

work  at  the  "  case." 

Concord,  May  2G,  1836. 
Dear  Brother,  —  How  do  you  do  ?  How  are  all  the  folks  ?  I 
take  my  stick  in  T^^^  to  inform  you  that  we  are  all  alive  and  well, 
and  hope  you  enjoy  the  same  blessing ! !  I  write  in  great  haste,  and 
hope  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  do  not  write  well.  L.  has  not  gone  to 
M.  yet.  Father  has  gone  to  Groton  to  work.  Heard  from  J.  a  day 
or  two  ago.  S.  was  not  well,  Aunt  C.  has  returned,  —  I  have  told 
you  all  the  news.  Isn't  this  a  good  way  to  save  postage?  Give  my 
love  to  wife.  L.  and  all,  I  suppose,  do  the  same.  Had  a  letter  from 
F.  the  other  day  —  all  well.  How's  business?  I  have  set  a  stickful. 
So  good-by.  Yours,  W.  S.  R. 

that  town.  The  Masonic  hall  was  over  the  schoolhouse ;  and,  before  the 
evil  day  came,  we  boys  used  to  wonder,  and  be  very  much  awestruck 
when  we  looked  tlirough  the  keyhole,  and  saw  the  carpentry,  supposed 
to  be  coffins  and  scaffolds,  and  the  regalias,  supposed  to  typify  all  the 
glory  of  the  days  of  Solomon  and  Hiram.  Occasionally,  Elisha  Col- 
burn,  the  tyler,  was  seen  at  the  entrance  with  his  drawn  sword.  In 
those  days,  John  Keyes,  father  of  the  late  United-States  marshal,  was 
king;  and  William  Whiting,  father  of  the  late  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury, 
was  priest;  and  Dr.  Ripley  was  a  high  dignitary  of  the  order. — W.  S.  R. 
in  1863. 


''WARRINGTON."  15 


CHAPTER  II. 
YOUTH. 

[1837-1842.] 

"  A  boy's  will  is  the  wind's  will ; 

And  the  thoughts  of  youth  are  long,  long  thoughts." 

Longfellow. 

In  1837,  Concord  had  not  begun  to  be  the  centre  of  thought 
that  it  is  since  supposed  to  have  become.  Mr.  Emerson,  fresh 
from  his  abandoned  pulpit  in  Boston,  did  not  come  to  live 
there  till  1834,  though  he  had  made  long  visits  previousl}'  at 
the  "old  manse"  of  his  grandfather,  Dr.  Ripley' ;  and  the 
choice  spirits  who  subsequentlj^  gathered  around  him  had  not 
3'et  found  their  master  and  teacher.  Dr.  Ripley  was  still 
preaching  in  1837  ;  and  3'oung  Robinson,  who  does  not  seem 
to  have  inherited  his  grandfather's  opinion  of  this  clcrg}'- 
man's  sermons,  was,  unlike  some  of  the  other  youngsters,^ 
an  attentive  listener.  Perhaps,  however,  he  had  not 
begun  to  reflect  whether  it  "did  him  any  good,"  or  not. 
About   this   time,   Universalism  began   to   be   preached  in 

1  I  remember  that  wLen  the  legislature  of  1859  revised  the  statutes, 
•when  the  House  came  to  the  chapter  relating  to  towns  and  town-offi- 
cers, somebody  moved  to  strike  out  the  word  "tithingman."  Tliere 
Avas  a  laugh,  and  out  went  the  word;  and,  wherever  the  tithingman 
appeareil  elsewhere  in  the  code,  he  was  ousted  without  remonstrance. 
That  was  tlie  official  end  of  John  Le  Gross,  the  old  fellow  who  used  to 
sit  in  the  gallery  of  Concord  meeting-house  in  the  days  of  my  boyhood, 
and  terrify  the  youngsters  into  an  appearance  of  listening  to  Dr. 
Ripley's  sermons,  — an  end  of  him,  bis  administrators  and  assigns.  Ko 
tithingman  has  exercised  authority  in  Massachusetts  since  that  fatal 
innovation  by  the  legislature  of  1859.  —  W.  S.  R.  in  1868. 


16  MEMOIR  OF 

Concord  ;  and  he  was  taught  to  have  great  respect  for  John 
Murray  (the  founder)  and  Walter  Balfour.  "  I  have  heard 
one  of  my  relatives  tell  how  the  children  in  her  famih'  used 
to  get  behind  the  door,  and  whisper  among  themselves, 
'  Father  has  been  over  to  hear  Murraj-  preach ; '  the  event 
being  one  not  to  be  talked  about,  except  ver}^  private!}-."  ^ 
Universalism  was  thought  to  be  as  bad  as  atheism  in  those 
daj-s.  His  father's  family' began  to  take  "The  Trumpet" 
as  soon  as  it  appeared ;  and,  listening  to  its  alarm,  thej*  very 
soon  went  wholly  over  to  Universalism. 

In  one  of  his  earl}'  letters  he  writes  to  his  sister,  ""We 
had  a  little  celebration  here  (Jul}'  4)  of  our  own,  in  a  quiet 
way.  The  people  of  the  town  assembled  at  the  Monument ; 
and  we  had  two  prayers,  an  address  by  Squire  Hoar,  and 
an  original  hymn  to  the  tune  of  '  Old  Hundred,'  sung  by 
the  assembled  multitude,  the  words  by  Rev.  Mr.  Emerson." 
He  also  writes  that  he  ' '  went  to  two  funerals  in  one  day, 
having  nothing  else  to  do,  and  heard  sermons  by  Dr.  Ripley 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Emerson.  Quite  an  interesting  time,  I  assure 
you."  It  would  seem  by  this  that  Mr.  Emerson  had  not  then 
escaped  the  "  Rev."  prefix  to  his  name,  though  at  that  time 
he  must  have  been  meditating  that  immortal  address  which  he 
delivered  (July  15,  1838)  before  the  senior  class  in  the  Divin- 
ity School  at  Cambridge.  Mr.  Robinson  said  of  this  address, 
that  it  was  "impossible  to  estimate  the  incalculable  effect 
it  had  had  upon  the  minds  of  the  young  men  of  his  time." 
"  The  Dial "  was  set  up  in  1840.  Mr.  Robinson  was  a  con- 
stant reader  of  this  magazine  (which  he  carefully  bound  and 
preserved)  ;  and  through  it  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
writings  of  Emerson,  Margaret  Fuller,  Theodore  Parker,  and 
the  rest  of  that  school  of  transcendentalists  who  did  so  much 
to  modify  the  austerity  of  New-England  Puritanism.  And 
he  agreed  thus  far  with  his  friend  Bishop  Haven,  who  said 
(in  1872)  that  it  was  "of  no  use  to  fight  Renan  and  that 
class  of  infidel  writers  ;  for  Emerson  and  his  school  were  the 

1  W.  S.  P..  in  1870. 


''WARRINGTON."  17 

arch-unbelievers  who  were  silently  undermining  the  churches 
right  in  their  midst,  while  people  of  his  [Haven's]  sort  were 
firing  far  awa}-  into  the  enemy's  country."  Emerson's  first 
book  was  printed  in  1836  :  and  from  that  time  the  sermons 
of  Dr.  Ripley  and  the  discoveries  of  Universalism,  founded 
as  the  belief  is  on  the  meaning  or  "mild  no  meaning  "  of 
one  word  (J.ion),  had  less  influence  over  the  mind  of  the 
thoughtful  j-outh ;  for  ever  after  "no  dogmas  nailed  his 
faith,"  and  he  became  a  reverent  follower  of  the  new  teacher, 
who  had  said  that  "faith  makes  us,  and  not  we  it ;  and  faith 
makes  its  own  forms." 

In  September,  1837,  having  learned  his  trade,  the  young 
printer  went  to  Dedham  to  work  at  the  case  for  two  dollars 
a  week,  for  his  brother,  E.  G.  Robinson,  in  the  office  of 
"The  Norfolk  Advertiser."^  This  brother,  whom  he  loved 
so  well,  and  whom  he  so  much  resembled  mentall}',  had  a 
great  influence  over  him,  and  guided  him  in  his  reading,  and 
in  his  first  eflforts  towards  editorial  writing.  He  was  an  elder 
brother,  a  rare  humorist,  and  knew  the  value  of  a  laugh,  saj-- 
ing  that  it  was  "worth  a  hundred  groans  in  anj'  market." 
His  witty  sayings  and  stories  are  still  remembered  by  the 
men  over  whom,  through  his  paper,  he  exerted  a  wide  influ- 
ence. "The  Advertiser"  was  a  strong  temperance  paper, 
and  welcomed  to  its  columns  articles  on  that  and  other  moral 
questions,  written  by  young  people  who  have  since  tried 
their  wings  (quills)  over  higher  and  broader  fields.  Among 
them  were  C.  C.  Hazewell,  George  H.  Monroe,  F.  W.  Bird, 
Seth  Webb,  jun.,  and  S.  B.  Noyes.  The  young  printer 
soon  began  to  find  his  pen  ;  and  in  June,  1838,  his  first  long 
article  appeared,  —  a  sketch  called  "  The  Miseries  of  a  Near- 
sighted Man,"  In  November,  he  writes  to  his  sister  that 
he  is  "brimful  of  politics;  had  communications  in  last 
week's  paper.  "We  have  beaten  the  Locofocos  handsomely. 
Go  to  singing-school,  and  think  I  shall  be  a  tremendous 
fellow  on  the  bass." 

1  Name  changed  in  1839  to  Democrat. 


18  MEMOIR   OF 

Mr.  F.  W.  Bird  wns  a  Mend  of  Mr.  E.  G.  Robinson,  and 
frequentl}'  sent  articles  to  the  paper,  which  the  A'oung  printer 
helped  set  np.  It  was  considered  by  him  "good  training 
in  the  hierogh-phic  line."  "  My  brother  also  brought  in, 
one  day,  Buckingham's  '  New-England  Magazine,'  and  gave 
me  Hawthorne's  'Rill  from  the  Town  Pump'  for  cop}'." 
But  the  shy  youth  of  small  stature,  looking  younger  than 
he  reall}^  was,  did  not  attract  the  attention  of  the  man,  who, 
ten  3'ears  later,  was  to  become  his  friend  and  co-worker. 
An  old  Dedham  friend,  who  remembers  Mr.  Robinson  at 
this  time,  describes  him  as.  a  "fresh,  red-cheeked,  prepos- 
sessing youth,  with  a  taste  for  books,  and  a  capacity  for  the 
debating-society;"  and  adds,  "  There  Avas  a  debate  in  the 
schoolhouse  on  the  question,  '  Was  Bonaparte  a  Benefit  to 
Mankind?'  Young  Robinson  took  the  affirmative,  and 
argued  it  with  a  clearness  that  quite  impressed  m}'  boyish 
mind.  He  used  to  observe  keenly  in  those  days,  and  gave 
me  once  a  graphic  description  of  the  impression  made  on 
his  mind  b}*  a  Dedham  town-meeting.  He  was  sh}'  and 
studious,  fond  of  fun  when  he  did  speak,  but  more  fond  of 
poring  over  his  books  in  the  chimney-corner  than  of  seeking 
the  company-  of  the  J'oung  people  of  the  town." 

He  returned  to  Concord  in  Januarj',  1839,  and  was  urged 
to  take  "The  Yeoman's  Gazette,"  a  Whig  paper  devoted 
to  "  anti-Masonr}-,  anti-Van-Buren,  anti-Locofoco,"  and  to 
the  "  dissemination  of  Whig  principles."  In  the  paper  of 
Jan.  19  the  following  notice  appears  :  — 

"  The  connection  of  Mr.  Scales  with  '  The  Yeoman's  Gazette  '  hav- 
ing ceased,  it  will  in  future  be  conducted  by  W.  S.  Eobinson." 

Edward  Everett  was  governor  at  that  time ;  and  in  the 
first  number  we  find  his  annual  address.  The  5'oung  editor's 
first  article  is  on  the  election  of  Xathan  Brooks  (an  abolition 
Whig)  to  Congress,  against  William  Parraenter,  the  Loco- 
foco  candidate  ;  and  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  To  the  Wliirj  Abolitionists  of  District  No.  4:  — 

"The  real  question  which  you  are  called  upon  to  decide  is  this: 
Will  Mr.  Brooks  truly  and  faithfully  represent  your  views  on  the 


''WARRINGTON."  19 

subject  of  slavery  ?  "Will  he  act  and  vote  as  you  wisli  ?  Do  you  in 
all  sincerity  and  fairness  believe  that  he  is  the  friend  of  justice, 
liberty,  and  equal  rights ;  that  he  is  an  enemy  to  slavery,  and  in  favor 
of  its  immediate  abolition?  The  times  are  critical.  Bad  men  are  in 
office,  and  desperately  struggling,  by  intrigue  and  corrupt  practices, 
to  retain  misused  powers.  The  rule  adopted  by  the  great  and 
venerable  Thomas  Jefferson,  on  placing  none  but  *  honest  and  ca- 
pable '  men  in  office,  seems  to  be  laid  aside  and  disregarded ;  and  the 
consequence  is,  the  people  are  pillaged  and  wronged.  Millions  and 
millions  of  dollars,  wrung  from  the  huge  paw  of  industry,  have  been 
embezzled  and  wasted,  within  a  few  years,  by  executive  officers. 
And  who  is  responsible  for  these  frauds  upon  the  people?  We 
answer,  '  The  administration  from  whom  they  receive  the  appoint- 
ment.' And  will  not  the  people,  who  have  the  remedy  in  their  own 
hands,  redress  their  own  wrongs,  and  right  themselves  through  the 
ballot-box?  To  the  polls,  then !  and,  regardless  of  minor  differences 
and  small  sacrifices,  strike  for  liberty,  rebuke  corruption,  thrust  all 
unfaithful  servants  into  outer  darkness,  and  raise  honest  men  to 
places  of  honor  and  trust." 

"The  Gazette"  gave  due  prominence  to  John  Qiiincy 
Adams's  "letter  to  his  constituents,"  warning  them  of  the 
encroachments  of  the  slave-power  in  Congress.  Middlesex 
County,  in  184U,  was  a  stronghold  of  abolition  principles  ; 
and  Concord,  then  a  more  important  town  politically-  than 
now,  played  a  great  part  in  the  beginning  of  the  political 
abolition  movement. 

In  answer  to  a  call  for  the  Baltimore  Convention,  Con- 
cord responded  by  sending  ten  "Whig  young  men"  as 
delegates ;  and  "William  S.  Robinson's  name  headed  the 
list.  Massachusetts  sent  twelve  hundred  delegates  to  this 
convention,  a  hundred  and  ninetj'-four  of  whom  were  from 
Middlesex  County.  They  were  addressed  by  Clay,  Webster, 
and  other  great  men  of  the  day  ;  and  the  first  AVhig  Presi- 
dent, William  II.  Harrison,  was  nominated.  Many  of  us 
can  remember  the  exciting  events  of  this  campaign, — the 
torchlight  processions  (a  new  excitement  then) ,  log-cabins 
on  wheels,  barrels  of  hard  cider,  and  songs  of  "Tippecanoe 
and  Tyler  too."  Even  the  women  took  part:  they  named 
their  sun-boimets  "log-cabins,"  and  set  their  tea-cups  at 
supper  and  breakfast  in  little  glass  plates  with  log-cabins 


20  MEMOIR  OF 

impressed  on  the  bottom.^  In  July,  1840,  there  was  a 
"Harrison  barbecue"  at  Concord,  at  whicti  sixty-three 
hundred  men  were  comfortably  seated  in  a  tent  at  dinner. 
Elihu  Burritt  was  invited  to  participate  in  these  festivities, 
and  sent  his  regrets  to  Hon.  Samuel  Hoar,  saying  in  his 
letter,  "As  Concord  spoke  j^rst  in  the  cause  of  American 
libert)',  I  hope  her  voice  will  be  loudest  in  the  cause  of 
KEFORM  on  the  morrow.  The  enemies  of  our  country  will 
hear  on  that  da}',  I  think,  a  voice  from  New  England  that 
will  be  a  dreadful  sound  in  their  ears."  "  This  campaign," 
sa3^s  Mr.  William  Schouler,  a  contemporary,  "inaugurated 
in  New  England  the  Western  custom  of  stump-speaking, 
which,  however,  is  only  an  old  English  custom ;  and  a 
number  of  young  men  of  Middlesex  County  then  emerged 
from  political  obscurity  into  prominence.  Among  them,  on 
the  Democratic  side,  were  N.  P.  Banks,  George  S.  Boutwell, 
Josiah  G.  Abbott,  and  Benjamin  F.  Butler ;  and,  on  the 
Whig  side,  Henr^'  Wilson,  E.  R.  Hoar,  Albert  H.  Nelson, 
Charles  R.  Train,  and  William  S.  Robinson." 

"  The  Yeoman's  Gazette"  had  been  for  j'ears  without  an 
editor,  and  was  good  for  nothing  when  INIr.  Robinson  took  it. 
The  advertising  and  job-work  paid  the  expense  of  running 
the  office.  In  July,  1840,  it  was  made  over  to  the  new  editor 
by  some  of  the  young  Whigs,  who  were  determined  to  have  a 
good  organ.  In  a  paper  preserved  by  Mr.  Robinson,  dated 
July  15,  1840,  I  find  that  "all  right  to  the  property  and 
appurtenances  of  '  Tiie  Yeoman's  Gazette  '  is  hereby  relin- 
quished to  William  S.  Robinson  by  Daniel  Shattuck,  Nathan 
Brooks,  and  others."  Its  name  was  changed  to  "  Repub- 
lican ;  "  and  its  prospectus  declared  it  to  be  "devoted,  as 
its  name  imports,  to  the  support  of  sound  republican  princi- 
ples^ to  the  diffusion  of  truths,  to  the  exposure  of  abuses,  to 
the  fair  and  candid  discussion  of  public  measures  and  public 
men."  It  became  at  once  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most 
spirited  Whig  papers  in  the  State. 

1  Human  nature  is  tlie  same  now  that  it  was  in  1840,  wlien  wo 
sliouted  oiirselves  hoarse  for  Harrison,  and  decorated  log-cabins,  and 
rolled  big  balls  through  the  streets.  —  W.  S.  R.  in  1872. 


"WARRINGTON."  21 

The  young  editor,  though  "brimful  of  politics,"  did  not 
forget  the  literar}^  part  of  the  paper  ;  and  we  find  in  it  some 
of  Emerson's  early  poems,  and  Hawthorne's  stories  as  they 
came  out.  Mr.  Robinson  was  one  of  the  first  to  discover 
and  appreciate  Hawtliorne's  genius.^  Eliza  Cook,  author  of 
"The  Old  Arm-Chair,"  and  other  writers  not  so  widely 
known,  were  also  copied  from.  A  notice  of  the  first  vol- 
ume of  Emerson's  Essay's  (advertised  in  "The  London 
Examiner"  as  "Essays  of  R.  W.  Emerson  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  with  a  Preface  by  Thomas  Carljde")  appeared  in 
"The  Republican"  in  1841. 

We  find  also  in  the  paper,  that,  in  the  year  1839,  John 
Thoreau  (brother  of  Henry)  kept  the  Concord  Academy ; 
and  he  "  was  assisted  by  Henry  D.  Thoreau,  the  present 
instructor. ' ' 

In  an  article  on  the  ' '  Excitement  of  Composition  "  in  a 
countrj'  newspaper,  the  editor  relates  his  own  experience  in 
that  vocation :  — 

"  The  editor  of  the  selfsame  hebdomadal  you  are  now  perusing  has 
plenty  of  the  '  excitement  of  composition,'  as  Amos  Kendall  calls  it. 
First  there  is  the  '  composition '  of  paragraphs,  which,  when  printed, 
are  to  have  the  semblance  of  editori-al ;  and  then  the  '  composition ' 
of  the  type,  which  conveys  to  the  distinguished  though  not  numer- 
ous readers  of  'The  Republican'  the  brilliant  thoughts  which  the 
joint  labors  of  the  scissors  and  pen  have  produced.  This  pleasurable 
'excitement'  is  occasionally  varied  with  intervals  of  labor  at  the 
'devil's  tail,'  with  now  and  then  a  delightful  episode,  such  as  trim- 
ming the  lamps,  sweeping  out  the  office,  writing  and  reading  dunning 
letters,  &c.  Now,  is  it  wonderful  that  a  paper  conducted  in  such 
style  sliould  be  less  interesting,  original,  and  spirited  than  those  car- 
ried on  by  men  in  more  prosperous  circumstances  ? —  Vide  our  neigh- 
bor of  'The  Freeman.'  He  keeps  a  cow,  and  has  'hay  to  give  her,' 
ay,  and  sugar-beets  in  plenty.  He  keeps  a  horse  also,  and  a  hand- 
some chaise  (he  will  pardon  us  for  going  thus  into  detail:  we  do  it 
merely  to  illustrate  our  subject),  and  a  pig,  we  believe,  a  man-servant 
and  maid-servant,  and  an  ox  —    But  we  won't  be  personal :  we  com- 

1  In  1842  he  writes  in  the  Lowell  Jonrnal,  "Concord  is  becoming 
more  literary  every  year.  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  one  of  the  most 
delightful  American  writers,  is  about  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the 
mansion-house  so  long  occupied  by  the  late  Dr.  Eipley." 


22  MEMOIR  OF 

menced  this  article  with  a  determination,  to  use  no  denunciatory  epi- 
thets towards  our  neighbor,  and  we  will  stick  to  it.  But  to  proceed : 
there  sits  he  all  day  in  his  arm-chair,  before  him  a  table  covered  with 
the  choicest  Locofoco  literature,  in  his  right  hand  the  scissors,  and 
in  the  inkstand  a  '  fresh-nibbed  patent  pen.'  Ever  and  anon,  as  a 
thought  comes  into  his  head,  he  commits  it  to  paper  in  that  language 
of  beauty  and  power  which  so  delights  the  universal  Locofoco  party 
of  Middlesex  County.  He  knows  little,  and  cares  less,  about  the 
'  drudgery  of  the  printhig-office.'  He  is,  in  fact,  '  monarch  of  all  he 
surveys.'  The  axe  of  the  postmaster-general  did  not  terrify  him; 
and  if  five  hundred  of  his  subscribers  should  cry,  '  Stop  my  paper ! ' 
he  would  have  an  abundance  left. 

"  Keader,  you  see  our  relative  situations.  He  flourishes  '  like  a 
green  bay-tree.'  We  must  leave  off  this  scribbling,  and  go  to  sticking 
type,  or  'The  Eepublican  '  won't  be  out  to-day." 

' '  The  Republican  ' '  did  not  receive  that  support  which  one 
of  the  most  spirited  papers  in  the  State  had  a  right  to  expect 
from  the  determined  Whig  3'oung  men  ;  and  tlie  3'oung  editor 
soon  found  (as  his  brother  in  Dedham  had  said  of  a  similar 
experience)  that  "  writing  for  glorj^,  and  printing  for  fan," 
was  not  just  the  thing  for  a  poor  fellow  ;  and  that  "  parties 
all  expected  editors  to  work  for  nothing,  and  find  them- 
selves." As  Mr.  Robinson  said  later  in  life,  it  had  turned 
out  that  he  had  printed  the  paper  principally'  for  the  benefit 
of  local  politicians,  certainly  not  for  his  own.  In  December, 
1841,  he  sold  "The  Republican"  to  William  Schouler  of 
West  Cambridge  for  not  half  enough  to  pa}'  its  debts,  losing 
all  his  3'ears  of  labor ;  and  wrote  his 

LAST    VrORDS. 

"  We  came  here  with  less  than  a  dollar  of  ready  money,  and  we  leave 
in  a  predicament  astonishingly  similar.  We  have  no  expressions  of 
gratitude  for  favors  received,  and  we  feel  under  no  obligations  to  any 
man  in  Concord;  for  we  have  given  them  an  equivalent  for  all  the 
money  they  have  paid  us.  We  will  say  one  thing  for  old  Concord :  it 
is  the  best  town  in  the  world.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in  this  coun- 
try—  or  any  other.  For  pretty  girls  and  right  good  fellows,  for  nobli) 
men  and  good  women,  for  wits,  wags,  and  wonders  of  every  kind,  it 
is  the  first.     Who  says  it  is  not  never  lived  hei-e. 

"  To  our  readers  we  Mash  every  blessing.  May  they  have  full  pursr? 
and  contented  hearts!  —  not  so  contented  that  they  will  not  make  an 


''WARRINGTON."  23 

effort  to  better  their  condition,  and  free  themselves  from  the  preju- 
dices and  bigotry  of  the  age ;  but  so  contented  that  they  may  not  be 
always  grumbling  with  their  lot,  and  finding  fault  with  the  Disposer 
of  it.  To  our  neighbor  over  the  way  we  say,  *  Good  luck  to  him  in 
every  thing  but  his  Locofocoism.'  He  is  not  half  so  bad  a  fellow  as 
we  have  represented  him  to  be.  To  all  our  friends  and  enemies  (if 
we  have  any)  we  bid  a  cordial  and  affectionate  farewell." 

Among  Mr.  Robinson's  young  companions  and  correspond- 
ents was  George  II.  Derbj"  ("  John  Phoenix  ") ,  who  had  lived 
in  Concord.  Whether  they  were  schoohnates  or  not  I  have 
been  unable  to  discover.  The  handwriting  of  Mr.  Derby  is 
almost  a  facsimile  of  Mr.  Robinson's  at  the  same  date.  He  is 
remembered  in  Concord  as  a  wild,  harum-scarum  lad,  full  of 
fun  and  jokes  ;  and  droll  stories  of  his  pranks  are  still  related. 
He  was  clerk  in  a  conntr}^  store,  and,  in  the  absence  of  his 
employer,  would  stretch  his  "  laz}'  length"  along  the  coun- 
ter. If  a  customer  came  in,  — i)erhaps  a  little  girl  for  a  pint 
of  molasses,  —  he  would  sa}',  ''  Go  awa}' !  we  don't  keep  it." 
The  post-office  was  kept  in  the  same  store  ;  and  once,  when  a 
bo}'  came  for  letters,  he  was  told,  "  No  :  there  aren't  any  for 
you,  and  there  never  loill  he.  You  needn't  come  again." 
He  would  often  draw  on  the  letters  a  picture  of  a  man  with 
a  trumpet,  blowing  the  superscription  out  of  his  mouth. 
Mr.  Derby  was  educated  at  AVest  Point,  and .  afterwards 
stationed  in  the  South,  where  he  married  a  Southern  lady 
who  held  slaves.  He  died  in  1861 .'  "  He  was  one  of  the  first, 
if  not  the  best,  of  the  modern  American  humorists."  ^  The 
following  is  a  characteristic  letter  written  by  him  to  Mr. 
Robinson  while  at  AYest  Point :  — 

U.  S.  JIiLiTAEY  Academy,  Feb.  17, 1844. 

From  Derby  !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 

Last  March,  Lieut.  Brunton  brought  me  his  album,  with  a  request, 
a  very  polite  request,  that  I  would  draw  a  picture  in  it.  I  lilced  Lieut. 
Brunton  very  much.  I  loved  drawing  excessively.  I  thanked  him 
for  the  compliment  he  paid  my  poor  talent,  and  took  the  book  with 
pleasure.  I  was  lazy.  I  delayed  for  three  weeks  drawing  in  Lieut. 
Brunton's  album.     He  asked  me  one  day  how  I  was  coming  on.     I 

1  Captain  U.  S.  Topographical  Engineers.        2  -w,  s.  R.  in  1871. 


24  MEMOIR  OF 

replied,  "  Grandly,"  and  went  to  my  room  and  sketched  an  outline  in 
his  hook.  But  it  had  hecome  a  task.  I  drew  evei-y  day,  on  scraps  of 
paper,  things  good  enough  to  figure  in  the  album :  but  I  couldn't  draw 
in  that ;  it  was  a  task.  Lieut.  Brunton  left  in  June.  He  sent  to  me  for 
his  book ;  I  sent  it  to  him :  there  was  nothing  in  it ;  for  I  rubbed  out  the 
outline.  And  thus  I  lost  as  good  a  friend  as  I  had  in  the  corps.  Now, 
in  my  conduct,  old  fellow,  don't  you  see  yourself?  The  first  two  or 
three  letters  were  pleasant ;  you  liked  it :  but  it  became  troublesome, 
—  this  writing  once  a  month.  My  poor  letter  arrived  ;  it  was  a  bore 
to  answer  it;  you  put  it  off  from  day  to  day:  and  I  am  perfectly 
confident,  if  I  had  answered  your  last,  you  would  have  done  the 
same  thing  again;  for  I  believe  you  are  something  like  myself  in 
many  respects,  and  I  can  enter  into  your  feelings  sometimes.  Now, 
one  letter  a  year  is  a  different  matter.  I  know  you  will  answer  this ; 
and  I  shall  reply.  I  suppose  then  you  will  gradually  procrastinate, 
until,  in  two  or  three  months,  I  will  rush  into  your  sanctum,  and  pull 
your  ears  for  not  writing.  Why,  if  I  was  not  going  to  the  old  Bay 
State  in  four  months,  do  you  think  I  should  write  now,  to  be  again 
neglected  ?  Fiddle !  Not  I !  I  like  you,  Rob,  much ;  I  think  about 
you  a  good  deal:  there's  something  nice,  too,  about  having  a  friend 
whom  you  love,  and  imagine  all  sorts  of  things  about,  without  know- 
ing exactly  how  he  looks.  I  felt  a  —  a  kind  of  a  twitch,  a  sort  of  a 
pull,  a  kind  of  a  "do  write,  Derby, ''^  tug  from  my  heart,  when  your 
letter  by  the  "  Plebe  "  arrived ;  but  I  said  to  it,  "  Hold  your  tongue,  you 
fool ! "  and  put  the  letter  in  the  bottom  of  my  trunk,  where  I  couldn't 
see  it ;  and,  whenever  I  thought  of  you,  I  would  whistle  some  particu- 
larly lively  air  in  a  peculiarly  piercing  style,  and  think,  "It's  best  as  it 
is."  So  now  you  see.  Every  thing  goes  on  so  so:  I've  risen  two  files 
since  June  in  my  class,  and  am  fourth.  I'm  a  corporal  of  the  "  color- 
guard,"  and  expect  to  be  first  orderly-sergeant  in  June.  Thus  much 
on  my  own  trumpet.  Your  affectionate  friend, 

Geo.  H.  Deeby. 

P.  S.  —  How  is  that  sneak  of  a since  I  drubbed  his  soul's 

lean  cottage  ? 


"WARRINGTON."  25 


CHAPTER  III. 
3HANH00D. 

[1842-1848.] 

"  The  wise  man  who  lives  a  virtuous  life,  gentle  and  prudent,  lowly  and  teach- 
able,—such  a  one  shall  be  exalted.  If  he  be  resolute  and  diligent,  unshalcen  in 
misfortune,  persevering  and  wise,  —  sucli  a  one  shall  be  exalted.  Benevolent, 
friendly,  giatef ul,  liberal,  a  guide,  instructor  and  trainer  of  men,  —  such  a  one  shall 
attaui  honor."  —  Buddha. 

In  1842,  about  the  time  Mr.  Schouler  bought  "The  Re- 
publican," he  also  bought  "The  Lowell  Courier  and  Jour- 
nal;" and  the  two  papers  were  consolidated,  or  what  is, 
perhaps,  nearer  the  truth,  the  Lowell  paper  swallowed  up  its 
weaker  contemporary ;  and  Mr.  Robinson  went  with  his 
friend  and  employer  to  the  new  and  busy  factoiy-town  of 
Lowell,  there  to  make  his  obscure  pen  a  power  to  be  felt  all 
over  the  State.  Middlesex  County  was  in  1842  very  unsound 
in  its  politics,  the  anti-Masonic  coalition  having  demoralized 
it  six  or  eight  years  before  ;  and  the  Lowell  paper  did  much 
to  bring  it  round  to  the  Whig  side.  Mr.  Schouler  began 
with  some  ideas  that  he  could  not  fully  carry  out,  —  a  AVash- 
ington  correspondence,  for  instance  ;  but  the  paper  was  a 
very  effective  one.  The  Washington  correspondent  was  the 
assistant  editor,  who  writes  from  that  cit}'  to  his  sister, 
Jan.  17,  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  am  now  at  Mrs,  Van  Coble's,  on  4^  Street.  I  pay  six  dollars  a 
week:  the  price  at  tlic  hotel  was  two  dollars  a  day.  There  are  five 
congressmen  at  the  same  place.  I  am  writing  this  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  where  I  have  got  a  seat,  for  the  present,  by 
the  ill  luck  of  Charles  T.  Torrey,  who  has  been  clapped  in  jail  in 


26  MEMOIR  OF 

Maryland  for  being  an  abolitionist.  I  believe  lie  went  to  take  notes 
at  a  slavery  convention,  and  was  found  with  abolition  papers,  and 
arrested.    I  am  sorry  he  is  arrested,  but  am  glad  I  got  his  seat." 

To  "  The  Journal "  be  writes  (Jan.  18  and  28) :  — 

"  I  do  not  Ivnow  what  idea  is  commonly  entertained  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives  of  the  United  States ;  but  he  who  has  a  very  exalted 
one  is  destined  to  be  disappointed,  should  he,  even  for  one  day,  witness 
its  proceedings.  Here  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  men,  chosen  from 
among  their  fellows  for  their  superior  wisdom  and  worth,  and  com- 
missioned to  make  the  laws  of  the  nation.  Look  at  them  as  you 
enter  the  chamber.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in  their  appearance. 
Some  of  them  are  longer,  some  shorter,  than  their  neighbors.  Some 
have  more  '  breadth  of  back  and  sesquipedalily  of  belly '  than  the  aver- 
age, and  others  are  more  attenuated ;  but  they  do  not  look  like  better 
or  abler  men  than  you  will  find  in  the  State  House  in  Boston,  or  in  a 
village  town-meeting.  You  may  expect  decorum  and  order  here,  a 
grave  and  dignified  debate,  an  anxious  desire  to  do  right.  But,  alas! 
all  is  confusion  and  turmoil.  The  speeches  are  filled  with  abuse  and 
blackguardism.  Members  are  scattered  all  about  the  floor,  talking, 
whispering,  laughing,  or  quarrelling:  decency  is  unknown,  and  disor- 
der is  in  the  ascendant.  Members  rise  with  professions  of  patriotism 
and  love  of  country,  and  revile  their  opponents  by  the  hour  together. 
They  will  talk  beautifully  and  eloquently  about  their  duty  to  their 
constituents,  their  love  for  truth,  and  their  hatred  of  all  chicanery; 
but  truth,  honor,  and  thtir  country,  may  go  to  the  bugs  if  they  stand 
in  the  way  of  their  party.  As  for  ability  in  debate,  I  have  heard 
better  speaking  and  better  argument  in  a  country  lyceum  in  Massa- 
chusetts than  most  that  I  have  heard  here.  I  mean  not  to  say  that, 
there  are  not  some  men  of  great  talent  and  exalted  virtue  here :  I  Icnow 
there  are,  and  I  am  proud  to  think  that  the  Bay  State  sends  her  share 
of  these.  But,  generally  speaking,  the  character  of  the  House  is  as  I 
have  described  it.  .  .  . 

"  I  hear  that  the  Eev.  Charles  T.  Torrey,  lately  the  editor  of  '  The 
Free  American '  at  Boston,  who  has  been  in  this  city  acting  as 
reporter  for  several  weeks  past,  has  been  arrested  at  Annapolis,  in 
Maryland,  upon  the  charge  of  being  an  incendiary  abolitionist.  I 
have  not  learned  the  particulars ;  but  this  is  the  way  that  I  heard  the 
story.  What  his  incendiary  movements  have  been,  I  do  not  know. 
Not  only  is  the  man  who  burns  buildings  an  incendiary  in  the  esti- 
mation of  some  Southern  peoi^le,  but  also  lie  who  dares  to  express  his 
belief  that  one  man  has  no  right  to  hold  anotlier  man  as  property, 
that  slavery  ought  not  to  exist  in  free  America,  and  that  the  respect- 
ful petitions  of  citizens  of  the  North  should  have  a  respectful  hearing 


"WARRINGTON."  27 

by  the  representatives  of  the  Union.  If  Mr.  Torrey  lias  done  nothing 
more  incendiary  than  to  express  these  sentiments  (and  I  do  not  know 
but  he  has),  it  is  a  hurnhvj  shame  that  he  should  be  imprisoned  for  it. 
We  shall  soon  hear  of  the  indictment  and  incarceration  of  the  Inde- 
pendence Bell  at  Philadelphia,  which  proclaims  liberty  to  the  world 
and  all  its  inhabitants. 

"  Some  gentlemen  from  Pennsylvania  had  petitions  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Some  of  these  came  under  the  rule  of 
the  House,  and  some  did  not.  Those  that  did,  of  course,  were  laid 
upon  the  table  instanter;  and  the  others  were  promptly  laid  there  by 
vote  of  the  House,  upon  motion  of  some  one  of  the  Southern  mem- 
bers, generally  Mi'.  Wise,  who  evidently  wishes  to  be  thought  the 
champion  of  slavery  upon  the  floor.  Some  of  the  abolitionists  are 
very  adroit  in  wording  these  petitions  so  tliat  they  may  escape  the 
working  of  the  Twenty-first  Rule.  Citizens  of  Bucks  County,  Penn., 
petitioned  that  Congress  would  look  into  and  investigate  the  la^rs  of 
the  States  and  Territories,  and  see  if  there  was  in  them  any  thing 
conflicting  with  the  truths  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepeiulence,  or 
the  divine  injunction  that  Ave  should  do  to  others  as  we  would  have 
others  do  to  us.  (I  have  not  the  precise  words  of  the  petition;  but 
this  is  the  substance.)  But  Southern  members  and  Northern  Loco- 
foco  machines  seemed  to  think  that  it  was  no  business  of  Congress  if 
some  of  the  States  did  defy  the  law  of  God  and  the  truths  of  the 
Declaration;  and  so  they  voted  to  lay  the  petition  upon  the  table. 
True  State-rights  men,  these ! 

"  Last  sabbath  I  went  to  the  Capitol  to  hear  the  Rev,  John  Xew- 
land  Mafiit,  the  famous  Methodist  clergyman,  who  has  been  i-ecently 
elected  chaplain  of  Congress.  The  large  hall  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives was  crowded.  The  text  was  in  the  following  words:  'For 
ray  tlioughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways, 
saith  the  Lord.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so 
are  my  ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your 
thoughts.'  I  am  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  popularity  of  Mr.  Maffit. 
I  was  not  pleased  with  his  sermon.  It  consisted  mostly  of  illustra- 
tions of  the  fact  that  there  were  often  little  causes  for  great  effects ; 

that 

'  God  moves  in  a  myaterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform.' 

His  illustrations  of  this  he  drew  from  every  thing  in  nature  and  his- 
tory. He  spoke  of  the  discovery,  settlement,  and  independence  of  the 
nation,  of  the  reformations,  of  the  mission  of  Christ  and  his  apostles, 
of  tlie  invention  of  printing  and  the  steam-engine,  of  the  origin  of 
Bible  societies  and  sabbath  schools,  of  the  great  men  in  history,  — 
all  illustrating  his  truth.     He  piled  figure  upon  figure,  and  metaphor 


28  MEMOIR  OF 

upon  metaphor,  until  I  was  sick  of  it.  His  oratory  was  extremely 
flowery.  He  recited  some  parts  of  his  sermon  as  you  have  heaid 
ranting  actors  spout  Shakspeare.  The  spouting  of  the  reverend  pro- 
fessor may  have  been  better;  but  the  speech  was  infinitely  worse. 
Mr.  MafBt  may  be  a  very  sincere  man;  but  his  sermon  gives  no  evi- 
dence of  it." 

The  Washington  correspondence  was  soon  discontinued ; 
and  Mr.  Eobinson  returned  to  Lowell  to  write  for  Clay  and 
the  unit}'  of  the  Whigs.  At  the  Middlesex-Count}'  Conven- 
tion, "  "Whig  principles  "  were  indorsed  in  resolutions;  but 
nothing  was  said  against  slavery'.  At  an  antislavery  con- 
vention held  in  Lowell  in  April,  1843,  Mr.  Garrison  called 
upon  the  Northern  Church  to  come  out  from  its  Southern 
brethren,  who  upheld  slaver}-,  and  "  shake  the  dust  from  its 
feet,  and  declare  ^itself  free  from  pollution."  In  a  report  of 
this  convention,  Mr.  Robinson  dissented  from  Mr.  Garrison, 
and  wrote  one  of  his  first  antislaver}^  political  articles. 
Then  he  thoroughly  believed  in  the  "\Vhig  party,  and 
thought  it  was  able  and  willing  to  abolish  slaver}'.  "  Re- 
form within  the  party  "was  his  creed;  and  when,  in  1843, 
the  Liberty  party  appeared,  he  warned  the  Whigs  against  it 
as  a  "man-trap  political  party."  "The  Whigs,"  he  said, 
"  have  gone  uniformly  for  the  slave  ;  aud  theirs  is  the  only 
party  which  goes  to  work  constitutionally  and  practically  to 
bring  about  good  results." 

In  1843  William  Schouler  published  "The  Lowell.  Offer- 
ing," a  magazine  written  for  and  conducted  by  factory-girls. 
Mr.  Robinson  was  much  interested  in  this  enterprise,  and 
was  a  frequenter  of  the  Improvement  Circle  (a  monthly 
meeting  of  the  contributors  to  ' '  The  Offering ' ' )  during  the 
years  of  its  publication.  This  magazine  was  first  published 
in  1840,  and  was  continued  at  intei'vals  until  1846.  Har- 
riet Farley  and  Harriot  Curtis  (the  author  of  two  novels) 
were  its  editors  ;  and  Lucy  Larcom  and  her  sisters,  Mar- 
garet Foley  the  sculptor,  and  others  not  so  widel}'  known, 
were  among  its  contributors.  When  Dickens  visited  this 
country  in  1842,  he  went  tlu'ough   the  Lowell  Mills,   and  a 


"WARRINGTON."  29 

cop}-  of  "  The  Offering"  was  presented  to  him.     He  wrote 
of  it  as  follows  :  — 

"They  have  got  up  among  themselves  a  periodical  called  'The 
Lowell  Offering,'  whereof  I  brought  away  from  Lowell  four  hun- 
dred good  solid  pages,  which  I  have  read  from  beginning  to  end. 
Of  the  merits  of  '  The  Lowell  Offering '  as  a  literary  production  I 
■will  only  observe,  —  putting  out  of  sight  the  fact  of  the  articles 
havhig  been  written  by  these  girls  after  the  arduous  hours  of  the  day, 
—  that  it  will  compare  advantageously  with  a  great  many  English 
annuals." 

Selections  from  "  The  Offering"  were  printed  in  England 
under  the  auspices  of  HaiTiet  Martineau,  who  was  "sery 
much  interested  iu  its  publication.  Tlie  volume  was  called 
"  Mind  among  the  Spindles." 

In  1845  came  the  annexation  of  Texas,  called  by  anti- 
slavery  people  "the  Texas  iuiquit}' ;  "  and  Mr.  Robinson 
came  out  with  what  he  afterwards  called  a  "slashing  and 
crushing  editorial  "  against  this  crowning  wickedness  of  the 
slave-power,  and  so  committed  his  first  act  of  insubordina- 
tion to  the  Whig  partj*.-^  An  anti-Texas  convention  was 
held  in  Concord,  Sept.  22,  1845,  at  which  Dr.  Elisha  Hun- 
tington of  Lowell  presided.  Stephen  C.  Phillips,  Henry 
Wilson,  E.  R.  Hoar,  W.  H.  Channing,  and  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  spoke  ;  and  strong  antislavcr}-  resolutions  were 
passed.  The  same  month,  Mr.  Robinson  went  to  Man- 
chester, N.H.,  to  edit  "The  American"  (a  Whig  paper), 
along  with  John  H.  Warland,  and  "  to  write  for  Jack  Hale, 
and  rescue  the  State  from  the  Locofocos."  March  16, 
1846,  he  writes  that  the  Locofocos  are  beaten  handsomelj-; 
and  says  further,  that  he  thinks  the  Whigs  had  better  emplo}' 

1  In  1833,  when  South  Carolina  threatened  to  nnlUfy  on  account 
of  the  tai'iff,  Mr.  Nathan  Applcton  waa  the  stiffest  man  we  had  at  the 
North,  except  old  John  Qiiincy  Adams;  bnt  when  Texas  annexation 
came,  in  1843,  he,  with  Mr.  Lawrence,  caved  in  at  the  summons ;  and 
cotton  paralyzed  a  very  promising  anti-Texas  movement,  in  which  I^Ir. 
Webster  himself  sj'uipathized.  I  believe  my  first  act  of  msnbordina- 
tion  against  the  Whig  leaders  was  an  article  in  the  Lowell  Courier 
against  the  manifesto  of  Appleton  and  Lawrence.  —  W.  S.  R.  in  1868. 


30  MEMOIR  OF 

him  to  go  about  refonning  the  politics  of  Locofoco  States. 
John  P.  Hale  was  soon  after  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  In  AiDril  Mr.  Robinson  returned  to  "The  Lowell 
Courier,"  where  he  is  described  b}'  a  friend  as  "  sitting  on  a 
daroaged  three-legged  stool,  pegging  awa}-  intensely  at  some 
(no  doubt)  crusher,  which  he  hadn't  finished  when  we  left." 

As  the  result  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  war  with 
Mexico  was  declared  in  Ma^',  1846;^  and  this  aroused  at 
once  to  action  men  of  all  political  parties  at  the  North,  and 
changed  their  minds  as  to  their  duties  towards  slaverj'.  At 
a  "Whig  convention  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  Sept.  23,  1846, 
Stephen  C.  Phillips,  Charles  Allen,  and  Charles  Sumner, 
proclaimed  the  divorce  between  Conscience  and  Cotton.  Mr. 
Robinson  was  a  secretar}'  of  this  convention,  and,  in  his 
report  for  "The  Courier,"  mentions  Mr.  Sumner's  speech 
as  thoroughly  antislaverj-,  to  the  full  doctrine  of  which  he 
desired  the  "Whigs  of  Massachusetts  to  pledge  themselves. 
Mr.  Phillips  Oiicred  some  minority  resolutions.  Daniel 
Webster  was  brought  in  to  talk  them  down  ;  and  few  people 
who  were  present  on  that  occasion  will  ever  forget  the  scene. 
After  this,  the  breach  in  the  "Whig  party  grew  wider  and 
v;ider,  and  finallj'  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Free-Soil  party 
in  1848. 

In  October,  184G,  Mr.  Robinson,  for  the  first  time,  ventures 
to  point  out  to  Mr.  Sumner  his  political  dut}-,  in  an  editorial 
in  "  The  Courier." 

"'I  am  no  politician.'  So  says  Charles  Sumner,  Esq.,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  Hon.  Robert  C.  Wiuthrop,  and  published  in  '  The  Bos- 
ton Daily  Whig.'  This  letter  is  upon  the  subject  of  the  Mexican 
war  and  Mr.  Winthrop's  vote  for  the  "War  Bill.  We  are  not  going 
to  remark  upon  these  subjects  now,  but  mean  to  say  a  word  or  two 
concerning  the  position  of  men  who  are  '  no  politicians.'      Mr.  Sum- 


1  In  1847  the  American  Peace  Society  offered  a  prize  for  the  best 
review  of  the  war  with  Mexico.  Tbe  New- York  Gazette  offered  the 
following:-  CHAPTER  I. 

ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE   WAR  —  TEXAS. 

CHAPTER  II. 
ON  THE  RESULT  OF  THE  WAR — TAXES. 


"WARRINGTON."  31 

ner  says  he  is  one  of  this  class :  and  we  suppose  he  is ;  for  we  do  not 
remember  to  have  known  him  in  the  poUtical  fiekl  until  the  present 
year.  Now,  can  he  give  any  good  reason  for  being  'no  politician'? 
Is  he  not  violating  his  plainest  duty  in  not  taking  a  part,  and  an 
active  part,  in  the  politics  of  the  day  ?  lie  i.-3  a  man  of  distinguished 
ability,  a  good  speaker,  and  a  ready  writer,  capable  of  instructing 
the  people  of  the  State  upon  matters  of  national  policy.  He  appears 
at  a  great  crisis,  as  v/e  all  think,  and  seems  to  lament  the  decay  of 
public  viitue,  the  lack  of  firmness  and  manliness  in  the  public  sen- 
timent of  the  times ;  but  what  has  he  done  to  make  that  sentiment 
what  it  ought  to  be?  Has  he,  year  in  and  year  out,  through  dark 
and  bright  fortune,  steadily  fought  the  Whig  battle  of  the  State  and 
Union  against  slavery  and  Locofocoism,  which  have  just  now  plunged 
the  nation  into  an  atrocious  and  wicked  war  ?  Has  his  eloquent 
voice  been  heard  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  great  wrong 
at  the  beginning,  without  which  we  never  would  have  had  this  war 
on  our  hands  and  consciences  ?  If  there  was  no  necessity  for  effort 
in  ordinary  years,  did  he  in  the  dark  days  of  1839,  when  Locofocoism, 
and  its  ally,  liquor-selling,  placed  Marcus  Morton  in  the  chief  execu- 
tive seat,  or  in  1842,  when  Tyler's  treason  paralyzed  the  Whigs  of 
the  Union,  —  did  he  in  those  jierilous  years  use  his  voice  and  pen 
for  the  support  of  the  Wliig  i^arty?  Not  that  we  remember;  and 
we  have  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  the  events  of  those  days,  and 
of  the  men  who  were  true  and  active  then.  Mr.  Sumner  was  true, 
we  dare  say ;.  but  was  he  active  as  he  should  have  been  ? 

"Now,  we  have  a  high  respect  for  Sir.  Sumner,  particularly  for  his 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  antislavery;  and  it  was  from  no 
lack  of  willingness,  we  are  sui-e,  that  he  lias  been  backward  in  politi- 
cal matters,  but  probably  from  habit,  and  an  exclusive  attention  to 
literature.  But  there  are  plenty  of  other  men  in  the  same  condi- 
tion,—  'no  politicians,' — men  who  occasionally  write  for  the  hun- 
dred, but  never  for  the  hundred  tliousand.  This  thing  should  be 
remedied.  Let  not  this  class  of  men  complain  of  the  meanness  of 
politics,  while  they  sit  quietly  in  their  offices,  and  do  nothing  to  enno- 
ble it;  and  let  them  not  complain  of  bad  measures  until  they  have 
done  something  besides  vote  against  their  adoption.  For  what,  pray, 
did  they  receive  superior  endowments,  if  not  that  they  might  give 
the  people  the  benefit  of  them  ?  We  are  glad  that  Mr.  Sumner  has 
been  brought  into  the  field  as  a  Whig  speaker  and  writer,  and  hope 
he  will  continue  there  in  that  capacity;  and  we  wish  him  the  higl>est 
success  in  arousing  the  people  to  a  sense  of  the  infamy  of  the  present 
war  against  Mexico." 

In  1846  Mr.  Schouler  went  to  Europe,  leaving  Mr.  Rob- 
inson in  full  charge  of  "The  Couder."     Rewrites  to  his 


32  MEMOIR  OF 

sister  at  this  time,  deploring  that  Mr.  Schouler  does  not 
agi'ee  with  him  fully  ou  the  slavery  question ;  and  that  he 
cannot  sa}'  what  he  wants  to,  because  he  must  not  injure  the 
proper!}'  while  his  employer  is  away.  After  Mr.  Schouler 
returned,  he  still  had  sole  charge  of  the  paper,  and  would 
not  leave  the  office  for  a  da}-,  for  fear  something  would  get 
into  it  that  he  would  not  willinglj'  be  responsible  for. 
"  The  Courier,"  during  Mr.  Schouler' s  absence,  had  made 
fame  and  capital  for  the  proprietor ;  and,  as  his  name  alone 
appeared  as  editor,  Mr.  Schouler  was  supposed  to  be  the 
author  of  some  strong  articles  on  ' '  Black  and  White  Slave- 
ry," "  Xo  More  Slave  Territor}-,"  &c.,  that  caused  him  to 
receive  an  offer  to  go  into  "The  Boston  Atlas"  in  1847. 
Writing  to  a  friend  about  this  matter,  Mr.  Robinson  says,  — 

"  Schouler  thinks  he  can  take  the  world  on  his  shoulders.  I  should 
not  have  thought  that  I  could  have  taken  it.  He  begins  on  '  The 
Atlas '  to-day ;  and  I  bear  '  The  Lowell  Courier '  on  my  shoulders. 
(Sub  rosa)  I  think  it  was  better  than  '  The  Atlas'  to-day.  I  don't 
think  that  paper,  for  some  years  to  come,  will  bear  such  strong  anti- 
slavery  doses  as  I  helped  him  put  into  *  The  Lowell  Courier.'  " 

To  the  same  friend,  who  remonstrated  with  him  upon  let- 
ting others  take  the  credit  of  what  he  did,  he  writes,  — 

'*  I  lack  the  quality  commonly  and  expressively  called  brass,  assur- 
ance, impudence,  confidence,  boldness,  or  —  what  you  will.  When- 
ever I  undertake  to  do  a  thing,  I  never  fail  to  do  it  well ;  but  I  lack 
the  confidence  to  think  I  am  able  to  do  it.  How  few  people  know, 
for  instance,  that  I  am  here  writing  for  '  The  Lowell  Courier ' ! 
Townspeople  make  me  laugh  almost  every  day  or  two  (men  I  know 
by  sight)  by  coming  in  and  asking  me  where  the  editor  is.  I  tell 
them  I  am  editor  pro  tempore,  I  heard  of  a  man  the  other  day,  who 
said,  '  I  thought  the  editors  knew  something;  but  they  don't.  I  read 
a  first-rate  piece  about  the  war  in  "  The  Courier"  the  other  day,  and 
supposed  the  editor  wrote  it ;  but,  come  to  find  out,  John  P.  Robin- 
son^ wrote  it.'  Some  one  had  told  him  that  '  Robinson  wrote  it;' 
and  he  knew  of  no  other  but  John  P.    Wliat  is  fame  ?  " 

In  recalling  Mr.  Robinson  at  this  date,  he  is  remembered 

1  This  was  the  celebrated 

"  John  P.  Kobinson.    He 
Says  they  didn't  know  every  thing  down  in  Judee." 


"WARRINGTON."  33 

as  a  modest,  unassuming  person,  full  of  jokes  and  stories, 
and  of  the  most  imperturbiible  good-nature.  He  was  short 
of  stature,  had  a  rosy  complexion  and  blue  eyes,  and  was 
a  man  most  people  would  pass  by  unobserved.  There  are 
people,  who,  b}^  the  mere  arrogance  of  ihciv  personnel^  their 
bodil}^  presence,  delude  30U  into  the-  fancy  that  you  have 
met  a  god.  This  sort  of  person  is  often  disappointing :  on 
further  acquaintance,  the  soul  you  expected  to  find  seems  to 
melt  awa}',  and  j'our  god  turns  out  a  thing  of  brass  and  claj'. 
There  are  others  who  do  not  impress  you  at  first,  but  sur- 
prise you  continually'  with  new  developments  of  character. 
The}' "  open  well :  "  they  never  disappoint  j'ou.  Mr.  Rob- 
inson was  of  this  sort.  He  did  not  impress  strangers.  His 
unpretending  manners  deceived  those  who  desired  favors 
from  his  pen.  He  listened  deferentially  and  silently  to  all 
that  was  said  to  him  on  such  occasions,  and  sometimes  gave 
the  impression  that  he  was  convinced.  The  pen  then  became 
his  interpreter ;  and  the  meaning  of  that  was  alwa3's  under- 
stood. He  had  a  hatred  of  pretenders  and  shams.  His  was 
a  sunn}'  philosoph}',  that  turned  ever}'  thing  over  to  find  a 
cheerful  side.  He  was  well  satisfied  with  life  as  he  found  it. 
Whatever  sharp  things  he  wrote,  there  was  no  sharpness  in 
him.  Extracts  from  letters  written  in  1847  will  illustrate 
the  sunny  side  of  his  nature. 

"  I  have  had  little  troubles,  which  I  know  would  seem  very  great 
ones  to  others  (such  as  loss  of  years  of  labor);  yet  they  never  cost 
me  an  hour  of  sleep.  I  laugh  them  off,  and  go  on  my  way,  growing 
happier  and  happier  every  year,  and  sneering  more  and  more  at  the 
schoolboy-days  the  poets  tell  about.    My  motto  is,  — 

'  Jlerrily,  nierrUy,  jog  aloTig 
The  footpath  and  th(!  stile-a. 
A  meny  heart  goes  all  the  day: 
A  sad  one  tires  in  a  niile-a.' 

Away  with  Goldsmith's  nonsense  about  the  *  loud  laugh  that  speaks 
the  vacant  mind  '1  It  is  the  truest  wisdom  to  laugh.  Who  would 
give  up  Iludibras,  or  Falstaff,  or  Dickens,  or  Tom  Hood,  for  all  the 
wisdom  of  Lord  Bacon,  or  the  good  bishops  and  philosophers  innu- 
merable who  have  vexed  the  world's  ear  with  their  religious  and 
scientific  jargoning?  Oh,  give  us  those  who  make  us  laugh!  — 
'  L' Allegro '  before  '  II  Penseroso.' 


34  MEMOIR  OF 

'  Mirth,  -which  wrinlded  Care  derides ; 
And  Laughter,  holding  both  liis  sides.' 

1  pray  you,  do  not  let  the  '  blue-devils '  place  their  ugly  claws  upon 
you.  They  will  take  the  roses  out  of  your  cheeks,  and  place  wrinkles 
there  instead. 

"  How  many  millions  just  such  as  we  have  suffered  and  lived  and 
died,  and  no  one  knows  they  ever  more  than  lived !  '  There  lived  a 
man : '  this  is  the  whole  history.  What  will  be  your  or  my  little  sor- 
rows a  few  years  hence,  when  oiir  fate  will  be  to .'  lie  in  cold  obstruc- 
tion, and  to  rot '  ?  We  shall  be  of  no  more  consequence  than  the 
generations  which  breed  in  the  muck-heap,  crawl  for  a  moment, 
and  give  place  to  new  ones.  We  are  '  such  stuff  as  dreams  are  made 
of.'  What  matters  it  what  we  do,  or  how  we  do  it?  'Nightly  we 
pitch  our  moving  tent;'  and  the  grave  is  the  end  of  all  our  toils. 
Here  we  are  in  the  world.  We  came  into  it  naked,  and  go  out  with 
only  a  suit  of  grave-clothes,  for  which  we  have  quarrelled  and  lied 
and  stolen  and  murdered  (it  is  possible),  to  see  whether  it  shall  be 
finer  or  coarser.  A  last  bed  in  the  trench,  as  the  soldier  has,  is  just 
as  well  as  any  other;  or  even  the  pauper's  hasty  burial.  You  speak 
of  having  troubles  in  such  a  melancholy  tone.  '  Ever,'  says  Carlyle, 
'  ever  there  is  a  dark  spot  on  our  sunshine :  it  is  the  shadow  of  our- 
selves.' Who  knows  but  your  dark  spot  is  the  same,  and  not  the 
shadow  of  something  else  ?  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  j'ou  have 
a  tendency  to  melancholy  and  misanthropy,  which  must  be  a  most 
unhappy  state  of  mind.  Such  a  state  of  mind  betokens  more  strength 
than  the  opposite;  that  is,  those  who  are  always  sunny  are  so  because 
they  are  incapable  of  intense  feeling.  But  still,  if  happiness  is  '  our 
being's  end  and  aim '  (which  I  don't,  however,  admit  entirely),  it 
seems  as  if  it  was  the  highest  ambition  —  to  be  as  this  man,  in  the 
beautiful  Arabic  eulogy  of  Antar  (quoted  in  one  of  Emerson's 
lectures):  — 

'Sunshine  was  he 

In  the  wintry  day ; 

And,  in  midsummer, 

Coolness  and  shade.' " 


'WABBINGTON."  35 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FKEE-SOIL  EDITOR. 

[1848-1852.] 

"  He  judged  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy ;  then  it  was  well  with  him :  was  not 
tliis  to  serve  me  ?  saith  the  Lord."  —  Bible. 

In  1848  the  real  antislavery  fight  began.  Zaehary  Taj- 
lor,  a  slaveholder,  had  been  nominated  by  the  Whig  party 
for  President,  with  Millard  Fillmore  for  Vice-President. 
This  action  convinced  the  Conscience  Whigs  that  they  could 
no  longer  trust  its  policj' ;  and  the}*  determined  to  break  up 
the  party  which  had  shown  itself  incompetent  to  deal  with 
the  living  qujsstion  of  the  day.  In  June  a  convention  of 
Free-Soil  Democrats  was  held  in  Utica,  which  nominated 
Martin  Van  Buren  as  the  presidential  candidate  of  a  new 
part}^  to  represent  the  doctrine  of  undoing  hostility  to  the 
further  extension  of  slaveiy.  The  movement  spread  ;  and 
Free-Soil  meetings  were  held  in  different  States.  J.  R. 
Giddings  came  to  New  England  from  Ohio,  and  made 
speeches  wherever  the  people  would  listen  to  him.  He  spoke 
in  Lowell,  in  June,  from  the  balcony  of  a  house  on  John 
Street,  at  an  out-door  meeting  presided  over  by  E.  R.  Hoar 
and  W.  S.  Robinson.  At  this  time  Mr.  Robinson's  pros- 
pects Avere  good.  He  was  the. editor  of  a  leading  paper; 
his  debts  were  paid ;  and  he  was  expecting  soon  to  be 
married,  and  to  make  for  himself  a  home  in  Lowell.  But 
for  one  thing,  he  would  have  gone  forward  in  life  without 
meeting  with  those  vicissitudes  which  it  is  the  duty  of  his 
biographer  to  record. 


86  MEMOIR  OF 

Says  Socrates,  "Wherever  a  man's  place  is, — whether 
the  place  which  he  has  choson,  or  that  in  which  he  has  been 
placed  by  a  commander.,  —  there  he  ought  to  remain  in  the 
hour  of  danger."  The  freedom  of  the  slave  was  as  dear  to 
Mr.  Robinson  as  to  imy  of  those  men  and  women  who  have 
given  their  lives  to  that  great  cause.  He  believed,  with  many 
others,  that  the  true  way  to  effect  emancipation  was  by  polit- 
ical action,  and  that  the  time  had  come  to  organize  a  new 
movement.  He  had  refused  to  acquiesce  in  Taj-lor's  nomina- 
tion, and  had  written  articles  in  "  The  Courier  "  to  prove  that 
the  Whig  candidate  was  neither  antislavery  nor  Whig ;  the 
latter  ground  being  tenable  enough,  but  hardly  sufficient  of 
itself,  he  said,  to  justify  bolting.  Lowell,  at  that  time  and 
long  after,  was  thoroughl}'  Whig,  and  devoted  to  the  cotton 
interest.  All  its  manufactures  depended  on  this  product  of 
slave-labor,  and  its  wealth  was  emploj-ed  in  the  support  of 
the  "peculiar  institution."  Mr.  Atkinson  had  bought  Mr. 
Schouler  out  in  1848,  and  Mr.  Robinson  still  held  the  posi- 
tion of  editor  of  "  The  Courier."  His  editorials  had  been  too 
strong,  and  had  gone  too  far,  even  for  some  of  the  Conscience 
Whigs,  one  of  whom  wrote  to  him  in  May,  1848,  — 

"  I  read  your  leaders  of  Monday  with  great  interest,  but  with  some 
degree  of  raisgivhig,  and  Wednesday  with  unqualified  approbation. 
The  Webster  article  has  a  good  deal  in  it  that  may  be  justified  on  the 
ground  that  it  is  GocVs  truth ;  but  I  was  sorry  you  happened  to  say  it 
just  now.  The  truth  is,  we  are  trying  to  get  up  a  Northern  rally 
against  both  Clay  and  Taylor,  and,  in  their  divided  state,  hope  to 
beat  them,  or  have  them  beat  each  other." 

Another  Conscience  Whig  wrote  to  tell  him,  that,  if  he 
did  not  want  to  go  in  for  the  new  candidate,  he  had  better 
keep  dark  till  after  election,  for  fear  of  losing  his  position. 
His  emploj'ers  told  him  that  he  must  write  no  more  such 
articles  as  he  filled  "  The  Courier  "  with,  because  thej-  would 
offend  the  V/hig  leaders.  Two  agents  of  the  manufacturing 
corj)orations  called  on  him,  and  told  him  that  he  could  keep 
his  position  as  editor  of  "  The  Courier,"  but  that  he  must 
say  nothing  against  Taylor  ;  that  he  could  still  work  for  the 
Whig  party,  and  let  the  "  conscience  "  part  of  it  alone. 


' '  WARRING  TON."  37 

Here  is  the  key  to  Mr.  Robinson's  whole  character,  —  never 
to  refrain  from  speaking  "God's  truth"  at  the  right  time, 
and  not  to  "keep  dark  till  after  election."  This  it  was 
which  prevented  his  life  from  calml}-  flowing 

"Round  the  cornfield  and  the  hill  of  vines, 
Honoring  the  holy  bounds  of  property,''' — 

thus  keeping  the  dead  level  of  undisturbed  prosperity. 
He  left  "Tlie  Lowell  Courier"  June  12,  1848,  and  en- 
tered at  once  into  the  service  and  counsel  of  the  wise  lead- 
ers and  founders  of  the  Free-Soil  and  Republican  party. 
He  felt,  as  he  expressed  it,  that  he  had  done  right, — his 
duty ;  that  all  would  be  well ;  and  that  he  had  earned  an 
additional  title  to  the  respect  of  all  good  men.  Edward 
L.  Keyes  of  "  The  Roxbury  Gazette,"  in  speaking  of  this 
matter,  sa3-s,  — 

"Mr.  Kobinson  of  'The  Lowell  Courier'  is  the  first  martyr  to  the 
glorious  cause  of  anti-Taylorism ;  and  in  imitation  of  the  heroic  and 
Christian  virtues  of  his  Puritan  namesake,  like  Massachusetts,  he 
'  spurns  the  bribe.'  He  has  turned  himself  adrift  upon  the  world, 
rather  than  renounce  Whig  principles,  and  give  the  lie  to  all  his  for- 
mer professions,  by  descending  to  the  Stygian  depths  of  Taylorism. 
The  ability  anfl  energy  of  Mr.  Robinson  have  given  a  high  character 
to  'The  Lowell  Courier,'  tlie  chief  honor  and  profit  of  which  have 
been  gathered  by  others.  We  thank  him  for  the  happiness  we  have 
derived  from  his  heroic  and  noble  example.  The  people  will  do  him 
honor.  We  almost  envy  him  the  position  he  occupies.  lie  can  afford 
to  set  against  him  a  lifetime  of  penury." 

John  G.  "Whittier,  who  was  an  early  Free-Soil  editor  and 
leader,  wrote  in  these  words  :  — 

De^vr  Frient),  —  I  heartily  congratulate  thee  on  thy  emancipa- 
tion from  the  Taylor  party.  Is  it  not  time  that  a  district-meeting 
were  called  for  the  choice  of  delegates  to  the  Buffalo  Convention?  I 
find  Liberty  men  disposed  to  join  heartily  in  the  new  movement, 
provided  they  do  not  surrender  thereby  principles  which  Barnburners 
and  Conscience  Whigs  admit  to  be  just  and  right.  They  will  not 
contend  about  men.  The  Buffalo  Convention  ought  to  take  its  ground 
boldly  and  strongly;  the  bolder,  the  better.  Nothing  is  to  be  gained 
now  by  compromise  and  evasions.  The  entire  divorce  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  from  slavery  is  the  only  consistent 
platform  of  action.  Cordially  thy  friend, 

Jonx  G.  Whittier. 


38  MEMOIR  OF 

The  Liberty  party  of  which  Mr.  Whittier  speaks  was  an 
abolition  political  part}^,  that,  unlike  the  Garrisonians, 
believed  in  voting,  as  well  as  talking,  against  slavery.  It 
began,  in  1839,  by  casting  three  hundred  and  seven  votes,  but 
made  a  gradual  increase,  until  it  became  merged  in  the. Free- 
Soil  party  and  the  Republican  party  ;  its  ideas  finally,  getting 
control  of  the  country",  and  effecting  emancipation  in  1863, 
At  the  Free-Soil  Convention  in  Worcester,  June  28,  1848, 
of  which  Samuel  Hoar  of  Concord  was  president,  some  of 
the  best  men  of  Massachusetts  assembled,  and,  in  a  remark- 
able series  of  resolutions,  committed  themselves  to  the  new 
movement.  One  of  these  resolutions,  beginning  "  Massachu- 
setts spurns  all  bribes,"  is  supposed  to  have  been  written 
by  Mr.  Robinson,  who  was  a  secretary  of  the  convention. 
Mr.  "Whittier,  Mr.  F.  W.  Bird,  and  others  who  have  been 
written  to  on  the  subject,  have  confirmed  this  supposition. 
Mr.  Robinson's  first  letter  in  "  The  Springfield  Republican  " 
was  also  written  from  this  convention;  but  the  "Warring- 
ton "  letters  proper  did  not  commence  until  1856,  —  eight  years 
later.  At  this  same  couA'ention,  Mr.  Robinson  and  Mr. 
Bowles  (editor  of  "The  Springfield  Republican")  met  for 
the  first  time,  though  not  on  the  same  political  ground  ;  for, 
in  separating,  Mr.  Robinson  regretted  that  they  were  to 
part  in  politics  just  as  they  had  met  for  the  first  time. 
"  But  never  mind,"  he  added  :  "we  shall  get  together  again  ; 
clever  fellows  always  do."  And  they  did,  seven  years  after, 
—  in  1855. 

"The  Boston  Daily  Whig"  had  been  started  by,  or  fell 
into  the  hands  of,  the  Conscience  Whigs,  and  was  supported 
b}'  them  at  a  great  expense  for  a  long  period.  Charles 
Francis  Adams  was  at  one  time  its  political  editor,  and, 
during  its  whole  existence,  wrote  very  able  articles  for  it. 
Dr.  J.  G.  Palfrey's  remarkable  series  of  articles  on  the 
"  Slave-Power"  were  printed  in  this  paper.  In  Julj^,  1848, 
Mr.  Robinson  succeeded  Mr.  Adams  as  editor  of  "The 
Whig,"  and  conducted  it  during  the  exciting  Free-Soil 
campaign  of  1848.     This  was  the  heyday  of  party  enthusi- 


"WAFBINGTON."  39 

asm,  and  subscribers  poured  in  by  thousands.  In  August, 
the  paper  was  enlai'ged  ;  and  its  name  was  changed  to  ' '  Re- 
publican," because  the  name  "  Whig  "  had  been  appropriated 
by  the  new  Taj-lor  party,  and  it  was  found  a  serious  injury 
to  a  Free-Soil  paper  to  retain  a  name  which  was  claimed 
by  the  supporters  of  Gen.  Taylor.  In  "  The  Boston  Repub- 
lican," Mr.  Robinson  first  developed  his  talent  for  writing 
short  spicy  paragraphs  and  squibs.  He  turned  this  lance 
against  his  opponents  "The  Post"  (organ  of  Milk  Street) 
and  the  ' '  lying  'Atlas '  ' '  (organ  of  State  Street) .  He  beard- 
ed these  lions  in  their  dens,  and  defied  the  cottonocrac}',  and 
with  untiring  industry  advocated  the  principles  upon  which  his 
party  was  founded.  Henry  "Wilson  and  William  S.  Damrell 
were  the  publishers  of  this  paper  at  this  time  ;  and  the  latter, 
a  little  afraid  of  State  and  Milk  Streets,  on  more  than  one 
occasion  altered  Mr.  Robinson's  editorials  after  the}^  were 
sent  to  the  printer.  This  coming  to  the  notice  of  Mr. 
Robinson,  he  threatened  to  have  the  tj-pe  distributed  if  it 
occurred  again ;  and  he  tells  of  this  as  an  instance  of  his 
firmness.  No  one  in  reading  "The  Republican"  at  that 
date  would  suspect  that  publisher  and  editor  were  not  in 
sympathy,  or  that  the  editor  was  constantly  annoyed 
throughout  the  campaign  by  the  efforts  made  to  bridle  his 
pen,  which  expressed  so  honestly  the  convictions  of  the 
party  and  of  the  men  for  whom  he  wrote.  Thus  the  cam- 
paign, as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  was  fought,  and  success- 
fully won ;  and,  though  none  of  the  Free-Soil  candidates 
were  elected,  he  felt  that  a  stand  had  been  made  at  once  and 
forever  against  the  slave-power. 

At  the  Buffalo  Convention  in  August,  composed  of  men 
of  all  parties  who  believed  in  "  free  soil,  free  speech,  and  a 
free  world,"  Martin  "Van  Buren  was  nominated  for  President, 
and  C.  F.  Adams  for  Vice-President.  On  the  morning  of 
this  convention,  ten  thousand  people  were  assembled  in  the 
park  at  Buffalo  ;  and  at  nine  o'clock,  the  hour  of  the  meet- 
ing, the  number  present  had  swelled  to  fifteen  or  twenty 
thousand.     Prayer  was  ofi'ered  by  Samuel  J.  May  of  Syra- 


40  MEMOIR  OF 

cuse.  At  the  great  Free-Soil  ratification  meeting  held  soon 
after  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Charles  Sumner  reported  an  address 
to  the  people  of  the  State,  embodying  the  ideas  of  the  new 
party.  At  this  and  other  similar  Free-Soil  meetings,  all 
the  great  men  of  Massachusetts  who  were  identified  with 
the  Republican  party  at  its  inception  appeared.  There  Mr. 
Robinson  first  met  many  of  these  leaders  who  were  to  be  his 
intimate  associates,  and  whose  lifelong  careers  have  made 
the  annals  of  that  party  illustrious.  In  looking  over  "  The 
Boston  Dail}'  Republican"  at  this  time,  it  is  not  hard  to 
catch  the  spirit  which  moved  those  earnest  men  to  take  such 
a  bold  stand  for  freedom  ;  and  the  heart  burns,  and  the  eye 
fills,  at  reading  their  names.  Most  of  them  have  gone  to 
their  reward,  after  having  accomplished  the  great  object  for 
which  they  so  noblj'  wrought.  We  have  no  such  names  in 
our  politics  to-day ;  and  a  reform  greater  than  that  of 
antislaver}',  long  waiting  for  just  such  leaders,  looks  in  vain 
to  the  "party  of  reform,"  because  its  counsels  are  ruled 
b}'  men,  not  principles,  and  its  creed  is  personal  government, 
rather  than  a  government  of  political  ethics  by  and  for  the 
whole  people. 

Mr.  Robinson's  marriage,  which  had  been  deferred  for 
some  months  by  the  uncertainty  of  his  position,  took  place 
in  Salem  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  Nov.  30,  1848.  He  was 
accused  by-  a  newspaper  contemporary  of  having  at  once 
"married  a  lady  and  a  farm."  Nothing  could  be  farther 
from  the  truth  than  the  latter  part  of  this  assertion ;  for, 
though  of  good  New-England  parentage,  the  wheel  of  her 
family  fortune  ma}-  be  said,  as  in  his  case,  to  have  reached 
the  lowest  point  in  its  descent.  In  speaking  of  this  lady, 
Mr.  F,  B.  Sanborn,  in  his  account  of  the  silver  wedding  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson  in  1873,  sa3's, — 

"It  was  in  Lowell  that  the  young  journalist  met  his  chosen  mate, 
—  one  who,  like  himself,  knew  what  it  was  to  work  and  write.  Miss 
H.  J.  Hanson  had  been  one  of  those  Lowell  factory-girls  whom 
Dickens  saw  and  praised  when  he  visited  the  city  in  1842.  She  had 
known  Harriet  Farley,  and  had  contributed  to  her  magazine,  '  The 
Lowell  Offering.' " 


"WARRINGTON."  41 

Their  acquaintance  was  begun  in  1847,  through  the  "per- 
ishable columns  of  a  daih'  paper  ;  "  Miss  Hanson  having  sent 
to  "The  Courier"  Avhat  in  those  daj's  was  called  "a  piece 
of  poetiy."  This  was  followed  hy  other  pieces,  accepted,  as 
the  author  was  informed,  "when  good  enough;  for  it  will 
not  do  to  let  the  editor  step  aside  to  make  way  for  the 
friend."  The  acquaintance  thus  formed  was  followed  b}' 
a  friendship  which  culminated  in  marriage.  After  his  mar- 
riage, Mr.  Robinson  continued  on  "  The  Boston  Dail}'  Repub- 
lican" till  February',  1849,  when,  the  campaign-work  of  the 
paper  being  over,  he  was  informed  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Wilson 
that  his  salary  would  be  cut  down  five  dollars  a  week,  and  his 
name  as  editor  taken  from  "The Republican."  Mr.  Wilson's 
letter  was  in  these  words  :  — 

W.  S.  EoBiNSON,  Esq. 

Bear  Sir,  — Much  complaint  has  been  raatle  to  us  about  the  paper 
since  the  election,  and  a  change  would  have  been  made  early  in  De- 
cember ;  but  I  endeavored  to  keep  you.  But,  two  or  three  weeks  ago,  I 
consented,  on  certain  conditions,  that  a  change  should  be  made ;  and 
Mr.  Smith,  who  edited  "The  Hartford  Courant,"  was  sent  to  and 
engaged.  lie  is  here,  and  will  go  to  work  next  Monday  at  twelve  dol- 
lars per  week.  I  want  to  do  the  best  I  can  for  you,  now  the  paper  is 
in  my  possession ;  and  I  make  you  the  following  offer,  which  is  the 
best  I  can  do :  I  will  give  you  fifteen  dollars  per  week,  and  you  can 
change  any  time,  if  you  think  it  not  for  your  interest,  by  giving  me  a 
few  days'  notice.  You  are  to  stand  on  an  equality  with  Mr.  Smith,  — 
neither  to  appear  in  the  paper  as  editors,  but  both  to  do  what  j'ou  can 
to  make  the  paper  what  I  want  it  to  be.  After  a  few  days,  I  mean  to 
be  in  the  office  all  or  nearly  all  the  time;  and  I  intend  to  organize  a 
class  of  writers  so  as  to  make  the  paper  what  I  want.  I  desire  to 
have  the  control  of  it,  but  do  not  intend  at  present  to  have  the  name 
of  any  one  as  editor  in  it.  I  may  engage  Mr.  J.  G.  Palfrey.  Xo 
announcement  need  be  made  about  the  change.  Mr.  Smith  expected 
to  be  the  head  in  the  office,  but  is  satisfied  with  this  arrangement.  I 
feel  friendly  to  you,  you  may  be  assured ;  but  this  is  the  best  arrange- 
ment I  can  make.  Let  me  know  what  you  can  do  about  it.  Our 
expenses  are  many,  and  I  don't  know  how  we  shall  succeed:  so  I 
must  get  the  expenses  as  low  as  possible.  Tours, 

H.   WlLSOX. 

Chagrined  at  such  unexpected  treatment  after  his  success- 


42  ME3I0IR  OF 

ful  campaign-work,  and  unwilling  to  be  reduced  in  position 
or  to  accede  to  Mr.  Wilson's  terms,  he  left  "The  Republi- 
can" at  once,  on  the  same  day  that  he  received  the  letter.^ 
Many  of  the  Free-Soil  leaders  (C.  F.  Adams  and  others) 
regretted  that  he  was  dismissed  so  summarily ;  and  some 
Lowell  members  of  that  part}',  one  of  whom  had  said  that 
he  had  made  "  The  Republican"  one  of  the  best  newspapers 
in  the  State,  urged  him  to  come  to  that  city  and  start  a 
Free-Soil  paper.  J.  G.  Abbott,  John  W.  Graves,  and  others, 
at  once  raised  a  siuking-fand  of  five  hundred  dollars  ;  and 
this  sum,  added  to  a  few  hundred  dollars  of  his  own,  enabled 
Mr.  Robinson  to  complete  his  preparations  for  starting  "The 
Lowell  American."  During  these  preparations,  the  editor 
of  "  The  Republican,"  having  found  that  reducing  editorial 
force  does  not  raise  the  standard  of  a  newspaper,  made  over- 
tures for  Mr.  Robinson's  return ;  but,  determined  to  say 
what  he  thought  to  be  right  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  he  pre- 
ferred to  take  his  chance  of  a  living  in  a  paper  of  his  own. 
He  was  welcomed  back  to  Lowell  by  his  old  Taylor  friends, 
who  thought  him  "such  a  good  fellow,"  and  who  deplored 
that  he  could  not  have  gone  for  Taj'lor,  and  kept  his  good 
position  there  in  "  The  Courier  ;  "  but  they  confessed  he  had 
a  mind  of  his  own.  The  first  number  of  "  The  American  " 
came  out  May  28,  1849,  with  the  following  prospectus  :  — 

" '  The  American '  will  be  a  political  paper,  advocating  the  princi- 
ples, and  supporting  the  organization,  of  the  Free  Demockacy  ^  of 
the  state  and  the  nation.  A  paper  is  Wniig  or  Democratic  when  it 
malces  the  principles  and  organization  of  tlie  Whig  or  Democratic 
party  paramount  to  every  otlier  political  situation.  In  this  sense 
'  The  American '  will  be  a  Free-Soil  paper,  inasmuch  as  it  will  make 

1  In  the  early  part  of  1849,  the  Repiiblican  feU  into  Gen.  Wilson's 
hands,  and  the  Emancipator  became  connected  with  it.  The  general 
became  its  editor.  He  can  turn  his  hand  to  almost  every  thing,  and,  in 
time,  would  liave  become  tolerably  successful;  but  I  do  not  think  his 
editorial  career  brought  him  much  applause.  Perliaps  my  opinion  was 
biassed  by  the  fact  that  he  did  not  retain  me  as  editor.  —  W.  S.  R.  in 
187.3. 

2  To  please  the  different  elements  of  the  new  Free-Soil  movement, 
the  party  was  called  the  Free  Democratic  party. 


"WARRINGTON."  43 

the  question  of  fkeedom  paramount  in  all  political  discussions  and 
action,  — a  question  not  to  be  postponed  for  four  years,  or  one  year, 
but  to  be  insisted  upon  at  all  times,  and  at  every  political  hazard. 

"  The  majority  of  the  people,  however,  have  not  yet  seen  fit  to 
declare  that  the  principles  of  freedom  shall  guide  them  in  all  their 
political  action.  It  will  be  a  prominent  object  of  'The  American'  to 
persuade  the  people  that  they  are  not  doing  justice  to  three  millions 
of  oppressed  men  in  the  Southern  States,  or  to  themselves  as  independ- 
ent citizens  of  a  free  State,  to  allow  the  slave-power  to  continue  its 
rule,  to  perpetuate  its  foul  system  of  oppression  where  it  now  exists, 
to  extend  that  system  into  new  Territories,  to  monopolize  the  honors 
and  offices  of  the  country,  and  to  wield  its  army  and  navy  and  diplo- 
macy against  the  interests  of  freedom.  We  shall  try  to  persuade  the 
people  that  it  is  high  time  the  rule  of  the  slave-power  was  discon- 
tinued, and  that  they  had  better  take  hold  and  do  at  once  what  has 
got  to  be  done  sooner  or  later,  so  that  they  may  have  opportunity  to 
attend  to  other  national  affairs  which  cannot  be  satisfactorily  settled 
until  slavery  is  disposed  of." 

There  were  in  the  State  this  year  but  twelve  Free-Soil 
Democratic  papers;  and  "The  American"  was  the  last  if 
not  the  least  of  them.^  The  name  "American  "  was  a  favorite 
one  with  Mr.  Robinson,  and  was  chosen  (as  he  said  in  1857) 
"  long  before  it  had  been  disgraced  by  connection  with  the 
bad  doctrines  and  disgusting  practices  of  the  Know-Nothings. 
If  it  had  lived  to  this  day,  instead  of  being  taken  from  this 
world  of  sin  and  sorrow  in  its  youth,  its  name  would  have 
been  changed  to  avoid  identification  with  the  gang  who  soon 
after  called  themselves  'Americans.'     Alas!  how  little  we 

1  List  of  Free-Soil  Democratic  papers  in  Massachusetts  in  August, 
1849,  copied  from  the  Lowell  American:  — 

EDITOR. 

Republican,  Boston,  Henry  Wilson. 
Spy,  Worcester,  J.  M.  Earle. 

Sentinel,  Springfield,  George  W.  Myrick. 
Republic,  Greenfield, 

Courier,  Northampton.  Henry  S.  Geer. 

Freeman,  Salem,  G.  L.  Streeter. 

Democrat,  Taunton,  A.  M.  Ide. 

Democrat,  Dedham,  E.  G.  Robinson. 

Gazette,  Roxbury,  E.  L.  Keyes. 

Reporter,  North  Bridgewater.  George  Phinney. 

:Messenger,  Lawrence.  G.  L.  Beckett. 

American,  Lowell,  W.  S.  Kobinson. 


44  MEMOIR  OF 

know,  when  we  name  newspapers  or  children,  what  occasion 
there  may  be  for  making  a  change  in  their  designation !  " 
This  paper  lived  (and  died)  three  times  a  week ;  and  in  it 
Ml*.  Robinson  said  exactly  what  he  believed  and  thought  on 
the  great  moral  questions  of  the  day.  As  he  had  no  one 
to  please  or  defer  to  but  himself,  he  was  not  deterred  by  the 
"  Stop  m}'  paper,"  and  "  Stop  m}'  advertisements,"  of  timid 
souls,  who  thought  he  sometimes  went  too  far.  The  argu- 
ments that  "  people  must  live,"  and  "  a  man  must  not  quar- 
rel with  his  bread  and  butter,"  had  no  weight  with  him.  To 
do  the  thing  he  thought  right,  to  sa}-  the  words  he  knew 
ought  to  be  said,  — this,  for  him,  was  to  live;  and,  to  such  as 
he,  any  other  living  "  would  be  true  dying."  The  selections 
from  "  The  American"  in  the  succeeding  pages  will  show 
the  character  of  his  writings  during  these  j^ears.  He  treated 
humorously  the  subjects  of  the  day,  and,  in  sharp  and  spicy 
paragraphs,  held  up  to  ridicule  old  abuses  and  the  men  who 
supported  them.  It  was  a  model  paper  in  beauty  and  purity. 
The  editor  took  high  ground,  and  tried  to  bring  the  people 
up  to  his  standard.  He  published  no  advertisements  demor- 
alizing to  the  community  or  to  the  home.  He  would  not 
help  men  cry  down  their  runaway'  wives,  believing,  that,  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten,  there  was  good  reason  for  their  flight. 
He  advocated  the  cause  of  woman's  enfranchisement  two 
j-ears  before  any  legislative  action  whatever  was  taken  upon 
it  in  the  country.  Besides  his  antislavery  teachings,  he 
advocated  the  secret-ballot  law,  so  that  the  poor  man  could 
vote  unchallenged  by  his  rich  employer  :  he  did  not  believe  in 
making  voters  of  men,  but  in  making  men  of  voters.  He 
urged  Charles  Sumner's  claim  as  a  leader  and  representative 
of  the  new  part}*,  and  ventured  then,  as  he  did  all  through 
his  political  connection  with  Mr.  Sumner,  to  point  out  to 
him  what  he  thought  to  be  the  dut}'  of  a  great  leader  of  the 
people.  "  The  American  "  at  once  took  rank  as  a  leading 
Free-Soil  paper  in  Massachusetts,  and  helped,  by  its  wise 
management,  to  bring  the  rising  party  into  power. 

C.  C.  Hazewell,  speaking  of  "The  American"  in  1875, 


"WARRINGTON."  45 

says,  "Its  literary  character  was  high;  for  Mr.  Robinson 
wtis  a  wide  rciader,  and  bad  a  power  of  selection  rare  in  one 
so  3'oung.  Its  columns  contain  what  is  equal  to  a  volume  of 
matter,  that  can  be  read  with  pleasure,  even  at  this  time, 
when  a  new  age  has  come  upon  the  world,  —  an  assertion 
that  can  be  made  concerning  the  contents  of  \Qvy  few  Ameri- 
can journals."  The  English  writers  were  quoted  from;  and 
the  new  poems  of  Emerson,  "VVhittier,  Longfellow,  and  Low- 
ell, were  printed  successively  as  the}'  came  out.  The  thrice- 
wonderful  "  Biglow  Papers  "  (as  Mr.  Robinson  called  them 
in  1875)  first  began  to  appear  in  "The  Boston  Courier" 
in  1847,  commencing  with  a  poem  from  "  Birdofreedom 
Sawin  "  on  the  Mexican  war.  It  is  difficult,  at  this  dis- 
tance of  time,  to  estimate  the  influence  these  papers  exerted 
on  the  politics  of  the  daj'.  Without  doubt  they  did  as  much 
towards  the  success  of  the  antislavery  movement  as  the 
poems  of  Whittier,  or  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  or  even  the 
Free-Soil  party  itself.  Mr.  Robinson  relished  the  keen 
humor  and  sarcasm  of  "The  Biglow  Papers,"  and  was 
never  tired  of  quoting  the  sayings  of  Birdofreedom  Sawin, 
who,  he  said,  reads  better  the  fourth  or  fifth  time  than  the 
first.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  author  of  this  keen 
analysis  of  the  characters  of  his  time  did  not  tr}-  his  hand 
on  "  Warrington,"  who  was  one  of  the  most  appreciative  of 
his  readers,  and  who  did  so  much  to  bring  before  the  public 
the  choice  parts  of  his  wonderfully  humorous  productions. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  1850,  Daniel  Webster  apostatized 
in  his  great  speech  of  that  date ;  and,  the  next  Jul}-,  Presi- 
dent Taylor  died.  Ilis  election  to  the  presidency  seems  to 
have  done  no  great  harm,  and  unconsciously  to  have  been 
the  means  of  great  good,  since  it  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Free-Soil  party.  He  died  just  in  time  to  defeat  his  destin}-, 
and  give  his  successor,  Millard  Fillmore,  an  opportunity  to 
sign  the  Fugitive-slave  Bill,  and  to  make  his  name  forever 
odious  in  the  annals  of  his  countr}-.  The  Fugitive-slave 
Bill  (Mason's),  called  the  "Bloodhound  Law,"  was  signed 
Sept.   18,   1850;   and  a  great  Free-Soil   meeting  was  held 


46  MEMOIR  OF 

in  Lowell,  Oct.  4,  to  help  re-enact  God's  law  against  man- 
stealing.  Mr.  Robinson  presided  at  this  meeting ;  and 
Shubael  P.  Adams,  Hemy  Wilson,  E.  A.  Stansbury  of 
Vermont,  and  William  N.  Brewster,  spoke.  There  was  great 
commotion  in  the  community  ;  and  meetings  were  held  all 
over  the  land  to  protest  against  the  monstrous  wi'ong,  and 
manifest  the  people's  abhorrence  of  the  law  and  its  authors. 
On  the  14th  of  October  a  meeting  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall 
for  the  denunciation  of  the  law,  and  the  expression  of  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation  with  the  fugitives.  Charles  Francis 
Adams  presided  ;  and  Frederick  Douglass,  Theodore  Parker, 
Wendell  Phillips,  and  others,  spoke.  The  fugitives  them- 
selves held  meetings  to  devise  means  for  their  own  protec- 
tion, and  many  of  them  fled  to  Canada  for  safet}'.  Think- 
ing it  necessarj'  that  the  people  should  be  acquainted  with 
the  kidnapping  law,  and  not  having  room  in  his  paper  for 
the  whole  of  it,  Mr.  Robinson  made  a  brief  but  correct  sj-- 
nopsis  of  it ;  and  headed  by  Daniel  Webster's  indorsement, 
"To  the  fullest  extent^  to  the  fullest  extent"  (as  the 
great  orator  had  said) ,  it  occupied  a  conspicuous  column  in 
"  The  American  ;  "  and  week  after  week  it  was  commented 
upon  b}'  the  editor,  and  held  up  to  scorn  and  derision.  On 
the  passage  of  this  infamous  law,  the  slaveholders  began  at 
once  to  take  measures  to  reclaim  their  property.  A  man- 
stealer  appeared  in  Lowell,  Oct.  2,  1850,  for  the  purpose  of 
capturing  a  very  respectable  man  named  Booth,  said  to 
have  once  been  a  slave  in  Virginia,  who  had  lived  in  the  city 
for  several  j-ears.  He,  however,  happened  to  be  in  Montreal 
at  the  time ;  and  his  friends  telegraphed  to  him  to  remain 
there.  The  antislavery  newspapers  kept  each  other  secretly 
informed  when  a  supposed  man-stealer  was  about ;  and  b}' 
this  means  man}'  a  poor  fugitive  escaped,  who  would  other- 
wise have  been  captured,  and  returned  to  slavery. 

In  the  early  part  of  1851,  three  celebrated  rescues  of 
fugitives  occurred,  —  that  of  Jerry  McHenr}'  of  S3Tacuse 
(called  the  "Jerry  Rescue"),  the  rescue  of  Shadrach,  and 
the  Sirams  case,  both  in  Boston.      These  inoffensive   men 


"WARRINGTON."  47 

were  arrested,  while  pursuing  their  daily  vocations,  by  men 
who  were,  or  who  represented,  their  pretended  owners ; 
and  though  one  of  them,  Simms,  declared  that  he  had  been 
free  as  long  as  he  could  remember,  and  that  his  father  was  a 
Spaniard,  it  made  no  difference.  His  claimant  was  believed, 
while  his  own  testimon}-  was  counted  as  nothing.  "Wherever 
the  man-steal er  appeared,  he  could  procure  the  warrant  of 
any  twopenn}'  commissioner  against  an}-  colored  man  ;  and 
the  majest}'  of  the  Fugitive-slave  Bill  was  enforced  without 
judge  or  }nry.  The  people  became  incensed  at  these  out- 
rages ;  and  there  was  a  general  uprising  of  antislavery 
sentiment.  A  convention  was  called  in  Tremont  Temple, 
April  8,  1851,  of  all  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  without 
distinction  of  part}',  opposed  to  the  "Fugitive-slave  Law." 
The  call  was  signed  by  S.  C.  Phillips,  Horace  Mann,  J.  G. 
Palfrey,  C.  F.  Adams,  S.  G.  Howe,  J.  G.  Whittier,  and 
others ;  and  resolutions  were  passed  to  the  effect  that  it  is 
*'  impossible  to  aid  by  word  or  deed  in  remanding  a  fugitive 
slave  to  bondage  without  aiding  to  rob  him  of  an  inalienable 
right,  and  thus  sinning  against  Christian  light  and  against 
God."  At  the  November  election  of  1850,  the  Whigs  were 
beaten  by  a  coalition  of  Democrats  and  Free-Soilers  ;  and 
"  The  American  "  came  out  with  a  leader  on  the  "  Death  of 
the  Whig  Party."  ^ 

1  This  was  premature,  as  it  lived  till  1854,  when  Know-Nothinglsm 
came  up,  and  swept  it  out  of  existence.  — "W.  S.  R.  in  1858. 

There  was  an  opportunity  just  before  this  time  to  give  a  little  dig  at 
a  Whig  postmaster,  which  was  improved  as  follows:  — 

KoRTH  Cni:L.MSFORD,  June  14, 1850. 
William  S.  Eobixsox,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir,  —  W)iy  do  j'ou  persi.st  in  sending  the  American  to  Benj.  Wilcox 

after  having  been  informed  that  there  is  no  siu^h  man  in  this  place? 

Youi-8  truly, 

Z.  Gay,  Jun.,  Postmaster. 

[AXSAN^ER.] 

Lowell,  June  14, 1850. 
Z.  Gay,  Jun.,  Esq.,  Postmaster. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  am  not  aware  tliat  it  is  any  part  of  your  official  business  to  become 
informed  of  the  reason  why  I  "persist  in  sending  the  American  to  Benj.  Wil- 
cox: "  therefore  I  very  respectfully  decline  to  answer  your  inteiTOgatoiy. 

Yours  truly, 

William  S.  Kobi>-soh. 


48  MEMOIR  OF 

During  these  great  aud  stirring  events,  "  The  American" 
came  out  toldlj',  an.l  spoke  God's  truth  at  the  right  time, 
though  subscribers  fell  off,  and  corporations  trembled  in  the 
balance.  Lowell  was  still  Whig  to  the  backbone,  and  her 
sinews  were  of  cotton.  Her  mills  were  owned  hy  merchants 
anxious  to  keep  peace  with  the  cotton-planters.  Many 
of  the  churches  aud  the  clergy  were  either  proslavery, 
or  would  not  leave  their  proslavery  parties  to  vote  with 
the  part}^  of  free  soil  aud  free  men.  A  Rev.  Mr.  T.  in 
Lowell  said  that  he  would  ' '  vote  the  "Whig  ticket  if  it  were 
steeped  up  to  the  hub  in  slavery."  It  was  a  hard  fight  for 
the  poor  editor  to  wage  against  this  gi-eat  wrong  and  all  the 
"cotton  lords"  who  supported  it.  The  expenses  of  the 
office  must  be  paid,  and  a  little  spared  for  home  uses.  To 
read  the  bold  utterance  of  this  independent  journalist  during 
these  years,  no  one  would  suspect  the  struggle  with  poverty 
that  Avas  going  on  behind  the  scenes,  nor  3'et  the  sensitive 
and  delicate  nature  of  the  writer  who  wielded  this  stinging 
pen.  "  The  American  "  was  conducted  in  the  most  econom- 
ical manner;  for  its  editor's  axiom  was,  that  economy  is 
honesty  in  people  of  small  means.  Pie  felt  that  he  was 
responsible,  in  part,  for  money  belonging  to  others,  which 
ought  to  be  judiciously  handled.  He  himself ' '  worked  at 
the  case,"  and  frequently  put  his  articles  in  type  without 
writing  them  out  beforehand.  He  wrote  all  the  editorial 
matter  for  "  The  American,"  and,  with  a  little  help  at  home, 
read  all  the  proof,  and  made  the  selections. 

On  commencing  housekeeping  in  Lowell  at  the  time  "  The 
American"  was  started,  Mr.  Robinson  had  requested  his 
wife  to  keep  an  expense-book  ;  so  that,  if  the  paper  did  not 
succeed,  the  friends  who  had  subscribed  might  know  what 
had  been  done  with  their  money.  In  looking  over  this  book, 
I  find  that  the  whole  expenditure  for  the  family-,  during  the 
three  3'ears  and  eight  months  that  "The  American"  was 
published,  did  not  exceed  the  average  of  four  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  This  included,  during  those  years,  house- 
rent,  fuel,  and  food  for  a  family  of  four  or  five   persons. 


"WARRINGTON."  49 

Not  much  money  was  spent  for  clothing  ;  the  editor's  supply 
being  hardly  equal  to  the  demand,  and  the  wife's  allowance 
being  two  calico  dresses  a  year.  She  did  her  own  work,  and 
took  care  of  her  babies.  Books,  the  principal  need,  were 
plenty ;  for  they  were  sent  to  the  editor  for  review.  There 
Avas  no  church-going,  for  there  was  literally  "nothing  to 
wear;  "  and  though  "  the  bab^-'s  milk  was  (never)  watered 
that  3'our  Helicon  ma}'  flow,"  nor  the  chamber-doors  taken 
down  and  burned  to  keep  the  editor  warm  while  he  wrote, 
he  lived,  as  Thoreau  said,  "  close  to  the  bone,"  and,  unhin- 
dered by  the  impedimenta  of  life,  fought  his  wa}"-  up  the 
heights  of  journalism. 

The  steps  b}*  which  we  ascend  or  go  forward  are  often 
ignored.  And  here  let  me  not  forget  to  pay  a  tribute  to 
the  mother  (of  the  wife) ,  without  whose  constant  care  and 
self-sacrilice  this  part  of  Mr.  Robinson's  life-work  could  not 
have  been  accomplished.  It  was  through  her  help  and  her 
labor,  at  that  time  unrequited,  that  the  famil}'  expenses  were 
kept  so  low,  and  the  paper  saved  an  earl^-  death  before  its 
mission  was  accomplished.  It  is  the  fashion  to  deer}- 
mothers-in-law  ;  but,  to  the  last  hours  of  his  life,  Mr.  Robin- 
son spoke  of  this  one  (still  living,  thank  God !  to  read  these 
lines)  as  being  good  enough  to  redeem  the  sins  of  a  whole 
generation  of  mothers-in  law.  In  povert}',  in  sickness,  in 
prosperit}',  and  in  defeat,  she  was  the  same  to  him,  —  a 
mother;  and  her  beloved  face  was  one  of  the  last  upon  which 
his  kind  eyes  looked  in  life.  It  is  such  women  as  these, 
y^idowed  or  single,  whom  "  God  setteth  solitary  in  families," 
who  cement  the  domestic  fabric,  and  whose  influence  is 
unseen,  and  oftentimes  unappreciated  till  it  is  taken  away 
and  the  walls  of  home  begin  to  crumble. 

It  was  in  these  years  of  self-denial  that  Mr.  Robinson 
first  tried  to  teach  his  younger  companion  the  real  meaning 
and  duty  of  life,  —  that  it  was  not  to  live  for  ourselves  alone, 
or  for  those  we  love,  but  to  forget  ourselves,  to  aim  at  a 
higher  life,  and  to  do   some  one  thing  to  make  the  world 


50  MEMOIR  OF 

better,  wiser,  and  happier  for  our  having  lived  in  it.  This 
was  his  creed  then,  and  to  the  end  of  his  life.  The  struggles 
of  an  antislavery  editor  of  those  earh'  dajs  can  hardly  be 
appreciated  at  this  distance  of  time  ;  and,  if  any  apology  is 
necessar}'  for  these  glimpses  of  the  home-life  of  Mr.  Robin- 
son, the  excuse  must  be,  that,  in  so  complete  and  manj^-sided 
a  life  as  his,  the  home-side  can  hardl}'  be  left  out,  or  passed 
over  lightl}-.  He  looked  at  what  might  be  called  depriva- 
tions philosophicall}' ,  and  the  narrow  economies  of  life  did 
not  trouble  him.  His  own  tastes  and  habits  were  simple ; 
he  knew  nothing  of  luxuries  ;  and  to  the  appointments  of 
home  and  person  he  was  indifferent.  During  his  whole  life 
he  practised  in  all  things  "  that  temperance  which  is  mod- 
estj'."  To  be  at  home  in  the  presence  of  his  famil^'^,  with 
his  books  and  his  pen,  —  this  was  his  idea  of  a  feast  and  of 
riches  ;  and  to  get  his  living  honestly  and  squarelj^,  as  his 
ancestors  had  done  before  him,  —  this  was  his  desire. 

As  I  have  said,  the  cotton  lords  were  against  him  ;  and 
although  kind  and  appreciative  friends  in  Lowell  and  other 
places  remembered  him,  sending  monej^  and  subscribers 
(better  than  money) ,  which  gave  relief  to  his  trusting  friends 
the  butcher  and  baker,  the  struggle  grew  dail}'  harder  and 
harder.  Among  these  friends  was  one  old  Concord  sub- 
scriber, who  sent  annuallj"  a  turkey  (a  rara  avis  at  his  table) 
to  his  "political  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend."  Some 
friends  of  the  New-England  Protective  Union  sent  him  a 
barrel  of  flour  "as  a  slight  evidence  of  their  desire  to 
encourage  honest  millers  in  ph3'sics,  ethics,  and  politics." 
Whatever  other  success  such  a  newspaper  as  "  The  Ameri- 
can" might  attain,  it  could  never  be  a  pecuniarj^  success  ; 
and,  in  spite  of  all  such  assistance,  the  struggle  grew  too 
hard  to  bear.  At  last,  worn  out  by  work  at  the  case  and  at 
the  desk,  wearied  in  trying  to  collect  bills  and  pa}'  them, 
and  of  skulking  down  back-streets  to  avoid  a  creditor,  he 
was  stricken  down  by  typhoid-fever,  and  did  not  leave  his 
room  for  eleven  weeks.     This  sickness  was,  without  doubt, 


"WARRINGTON."  51 

caused  entirel}'  b}-  business  troubles.  Business,  so  called, 
Mr.  Robinson  did  not  understand ;  and  doing  business 
without  means,  for  an  honest  man  to  whom  a  debt  is  a  dail^- 
horror,  was  enough  to  make  him  "sick  and  a-wearied."  ^ 
Gail  Hamilton  sa^s  that  "most  authors  are  innocent  of  any 
business  capacit}-,  and  entirel}'  destitute  of  an}-  practical 
abilit}'."  This  applies  very  well  to  editors  and  newspaper- 
writers  of  Mr.  Robinson's  stamp.  Such  a  one  is  as  depend- 
ent on  his  dail}'  task  as  the  shoemaker  or  the  carpenter :  but 
he  is  apt  to  forget  his  pecuniary  interest  in  the  ardor  of  his 
calling ;  and,  while  he  spins  from  his  life  and  brain  the 
material  for  his  existence,  he  often  does  not  exact  a  price 
from  those  who  reap  the  reward  of  his  labors.  He  sits  in 
his  office,  "  pn  his  three-legged  stool,  pegging  awa}-,"  and 
is  expected  to  be  a  fountain  of  information  for  ever^-body  — 
ready  to  answer  all  questions,  and  write  on  every  subject  — 
for  nothing.  Men  of  other  professions  and  occupations  come 
to  him  (particularl}^  about  election-time)  ;  and,  having  im- 
bibed what  knowledge  they  require,  they  proceed  to  make 
those  powerful  speeches  or  moves  which  carr}-  the  elections 
of  the  da}-.  "There's  a  divinity '^  doth  hedge"  a  law3-er's 
or  a  doctor's  office ;  and  whoever  comes  within  its  sacred 
precinct  to  ask  ever  so  small  a  question  in  law  or  physic 
is  expected  to  pay  for  the  privilege,  since  these  professions 
have  the  people  at  their  mercy,  ^o  men  of  these  or  of  other 
professions  offer  the  editor  for  his  opinion  any  part  of  the  fees 
so  easily  earned  ?  Yet  he  has  earned  their  fee  by  the  infor- 
mation given,  as  much  as  the  carpenter  who  drives  the  nail, 

1  At  the  most  dangerous  period  of  Mr.  Robinson's  illness,  be  called 
bis  wife  to  liiiu  one  day,  and  asked  her  to  show  Dr.  Graves  (one  of  the 
gentlemen  who  bad  belped  liim  start  tbe  American)  her  expense-book, 
that  be  might  see  bow  little  had  been  spent  in  tbe  family  since  tbe 
paper  was  started,  and  that  the  money  be  and  other  friends  bad  sub- 
scribed bad  not  been  paid  for  any  thing  outside  tbe  paper.  When  the 
doctor  had  examined  tbe  accounts,  and  had  seen  upon  bow  little  four 
people  bad  lived  (less  than  four  hundred  dollars  a  year),  lie  looked 
very  mi^cb  surprised,  and  did  not  say  one  word. 

"  Mercury,  perbai)3,  tbe  god  of  conveying. 


52  MEMOIR  OF 

or  the  lawyer  or  doctor  who  imitates  Bunsby  in  his  opin- 
ion. The  poor  editor  must  go  on,  however  (or  did  in 
"Lowell  American"  times),  spinning,  like  the  spider, 
from  his  inner  consciousness,  the  webs  in  which  others 
catch  their  prey. 


"WAERINGTON."  63 


CHAPTER  V. 

FREE-SOIL   EDITOR  {Continued). 

[1852-185C.] 

"  Say  not  the  struggle  nought  availeth ; 
The  labor  and  the  wounds  are  vain : 
The  enemy  famts  not,  nor  faileth ; 
And  as  things  have  been  they  remain. 

If  hopes  were  dupes,  fears  may  be  liars: 

It  may  be,  in  yon  smoke  concealed, 
Your  comrades  chase  e'en  now  the  fliers, 

And,  but  for  you,  possess  the  field." 

Arthcr  Hugh  Clough. 

On  Mr.  Robinson's  recoverj',  his  brotlier,  anxious  for  his 
worldly  success,  wrote  to  him,  advising  him  to  commence 
the  study  of  law.  lie  said,  "Before  1856,  jon  will  have 
a  profession  that  will  take  care  of  you.  Your  present 
profession  will  not  be  growing  any  better,  while  the  law  will 
be  more  and  more  remunerative  till  j'ou  are  sixt}'  j-ears  old. 
If  you  look  around  you  for  the  most  comfortable  people,  you 
will  find  the}-  are  the  lawyers."  Mr.  Robinson's  opinion 
of  what  are  called  the  three  learned  professions  is  well 
known.  He  once  said,  that  the  three  professions,  so  called, 
were  a  curse  to  the  communit}-.  The  lawyer  ruins  3-ou 
pecuniarily ;  the  doctor  kills  j-our  body ;  and  the  minister 
tries  to  kill  your  soul.  The  last-named  is  the  least  harmful, 
however  ;  because  the  soul  cannot  be  killed  finally.  "  Great 
is  the  science  and  practice  of  the  law,"  said  he  with  some 
contempt ;  and  although  it  was  said  of  him  that  he  was 
capable  of  conducting  an  argument  with  the  ablest  reason- 


54  MEMOIR  OF 

ers,  and  in  applied  logic  was  never  known  to  be  worsted,  he 
yet  preferred  to  follow  his  chosen  vocation  of  journalism 
(not  yet  a  profession) ,  because  he  loved  it,  and  was  suited 
to  it.  Said  he,  "  The  editor's  labor  is  next  to  the  priest's 
and  the  schoolmaster's,  if  not  before  the  former.  I  wish  I 
were  more  worth}'  of  it.  I  have  no  doubt,  not  the  least, 
that  my  influence  is  greater  through  '  The  Lowell  Ameri- 
can '  than  that  of  any  five  clergj-men  in  Lowell  through 
their  pulpits ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  influence  is 
quite  as  salutary  as  that  of  the  minister.  The  good  editor 
is  truly  a  great  public  benefactor ;  though,  lilve  other  bene- 
factors, he  is  not  thanked  oftentimes."  Journalism  had  not 
then  become  the  "third  estate;"  but  he  prophesied  even 
then  great  things  of  the  profession,  and  thought  it  destined 
to  become  the  highest  of  all  callings.  He  never  regretted 
having  continued  in  it ;  and  unlike  man}-  who  go  to  their  daily 
writing  reluctantl}^,  as  to  a  task,  he  resumed  his  pen  each 
daj'  eagerh',  and  with  pleasure.  If  he  had  chosen  to  be 
"comfortable"  in  a  money-making  profession,  his  countr}' 
never  would  have  known  the  pen  of  "  Warrington." 

Mr.  Robinson  was  elected  to  the  legislature  of  1852  on 
the  coalition  ticket.  In  writing  home  from  the  legislature, 
he  says,  — 

"I  am  glad,  on  many  accounts,  that  I  am  chosen;  sorry  on  but 
few.  I  love  my  home,  and  do  not  like  to  be  away  from  it;  but  I 
shall  get  a  little  money  and  much  knowledge,  and  shall  extend  my 
acquaintance,  and  by  that  means,  I  hope,  my  facilities  for  getting 
along  in  the  world.  In  case  the  newspaper  should  not  afford  me  a 
good  living,  an  extensive  acquaintance  among  leading  men  will  (if  I 
behave  well),  perhaps,  give  me  other  chances  in  the  world.  Coalition 
works  well.  I  voted  for  a  Whig  senator,  knowing  that  the  coalition 
candidate  was  a  bad  man;  six  or  seven  others  did  the  same;  and 
fourteen  would  not  vote  at  all.  I  was  amused  at  the  readiness  of 
some  men  to  shrink  from  responsibility.  The  '  dicker '  is  not  yet 
concluded ;  but  it  is  pretty  much  arranged  that  the  Democrats  have 
the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  and  the  Free-Soilers  the 
secretary  of  state  and  the  sergeant-at-anns,  and  six  out  of  the  nine 
councillors.  If  this  arrangement  is  carried  out,  the  Free-Soilers  will 
have  a  controlling  power,  and  veto  in  all  executive  appointments.  I 
am  a  member  of  the  conference  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Free- 
Soil  party." 


' '  WAIiRING  TON. "  55 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  1852,  Mr.  Rob- 
inson-n'rote  letters  from  the  State  House  for  "  The  Ameri- 
can," and  made  a  long  report  on  the  ten-hour  law,  in  which 
he  was  much  interested.  Ma}' 4  he  writes,  "The  vote  was 
taken  on  the  Personal-liberty  Bill.  We  beat  the  Whigs  and 
fog}'  Democrats  by  three  majority ;  reconsidered,  and  beat 
them  again  by  five ;  altogether  unexpected,  and  took  every- 
body by  surprise."  Mr.  Robinson  was  a  good  speaker 
at  this  time  ;  and  his  contemporaries  remember  to  have  been 
struck  with  his  readiness  in  debate,  —  a  power  which  he 
afterwards  almost  wholly  lost.  Feb.  22  he  made  a  speech 
in  the  legislature  upon  the  bill  to  amend  the  free-ballot 
law.  If  he  had  continued  in  the  line  of  speech-making,  life 
might  have  been  made  easier  to  him  ;  but  he  had  a  contempt 
for  "speechifying"  and  speech-makers,  and,  as  he  said, 
preferred  to  write  speeches,  and  have  others  deliver  them. 
He  had  the  opportunity  all  through  his  life  of  hearing  his  let- 
ters quoted  (without  quotation-marks),  and  his  opinions  and 
witticisms  given  to  the  public,  without  due  credit  to  their 
rightful  owner.  He  says  of  this  matter  (in  1863),  "  One  or 
two  of  my  own  productions  of  years  long  past  are  in  print 
as  speeches  delivered  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  So-and-So  :  and  they 
may,  for  aught  I  know,  find  their  way  into  some  future  selec- 
tion of  American  oratory ;  and  my  boy  may  declaim  his 
father's  rhetoric  with  a  glow  of  enthusiasm,  which  would  be 
heightened  if  he  knew  to  whom  to  credit  it." 

On  Mr.  Sumner's  election,  in  1851,^  there  had  been  great 
rejoicings  among  the  antislavery  people.  He  did  not  speak 
in  Congress  quite  so  soon  as  some  of  the  impatient  ones 
thought  he  should;  and  the  editor  of  "  The  American,"  in 
whose  house  Mother  Goose  had  begun  to  furnish  household 
words,  in  a  humorous  article  inquired  about  "  the  little  boy 
that  went  after  the  sheep."  Mr.  Sumner's  reason  for  this 
seeming  delay  was,  partly,  ill-health  and  the  recent  death  of 

1  Mr.  Sumner  had  just  votes  enough  to  elect  him.  Eobert  Eantoul, 
Mr.  Sumner's  predecessor,  also  bad  just  votes  enough  at  the  time  of  his 
election. 


56  MEMOIR  OF 

Mr.  Webster.     His  first  long  speech  Avas  sent  to  Mr.  Robin- 
son with  the  following  note  :  — 

Senate  Chamber,  Jan.  28,  1852. 
My  deak  Sir,  —  I  have  sent  you  a  correct  copy  of  my  speech, 
made  yesterday,  on  the  practical  question  of  lands.     My  coUeague  ^ 
is  now  speaking  on  the  agitating  question  of  the  compromises.     On 
this  subject  the  time  will  come  for  me ;  but  it  is  not  now. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Charles  Sujiner. 

"The  Lowell  American"  had  great  influence  during  its 
life  in  the  councils  of  the  rising  Republican  party  ;  and  man}' 
aspiring  politicians  came  to  the  little  house  where  the  editor 
lived,  to  talk  matters  over,  and  get  the  voice  of  the  paper 
in  their  behoof.  Henr}'  Wilson,  who  had  found  himself  a 
more  successful  speaker  than  editor,  came,  a  3'oung  aspirant 
for  congressional  honors,^  with  Anson  Burlingame,  to  make 
speeches  and  talk  over  the  situation,  and  devise  measures, 
through  part}-  methods,  for  the  abolition  of  slavery- .  In 
the  room  which  served  as  parlor,  libraiy,  and  nursery, 
several  gentlemen  met  one  night  in  the  fall  of  1852. 
Burlingame  had  been  speaking  in  Lowell,  and  probably 
Wilson  ;  and  the}-  began  at  once  in  conversation  to  dilate  on 
the  wrongs  of  the  slave,  the  indifference  of  the  Whig  party 
to  the  condition  of  things,  and  the  need  there  was  for  imme- 
diate action.  The  young  wife  sat  there,  minding  tlie  baby 
in  the  cradle,  and  trying  to  make  "  auld  claes  look  amaist 
as  weel's  the  new  ;  "  listening,  with  her  soul  on  fire,  to  the 
oft-repeated  talc  —  with  which  all  antislavery  people  were 
then  familiar  —  of  the  poor  fugitives  who  had  been  returned 
to  their  inhuman  masters.  At  the  close  of  this  exciting 
conference,  which  she  had  heard  silently  (for  women  in  those 
days  were  said  not  to  be  capable  of  politics) ,  one  of  tlie 
gentlemen,  speaking  to  her  for  the  first  time  during  the  visit, 
remarked  —  on  the  unpleasantness  of  the  weather.  Charles 
Sumner,  just  elected,  also  came  here,  a  young  man,  to  advo- 

1  John  Davis. 

2  Defeated  by  tlie  late  Tappan  "Wentworth  of  Lowell. 


' '  WARRmO  TON. "  57 

cate  the  cause  of  freedom  in  Lowell.  He  was  not  then  a 
handsome  man,  but  had  a  noble  presence.  His  head  had 
the  bold  and  upright  poise  of  a  .young  lion  ;  and  he  had  a 
fashion  of  tossing  his  hair  from  his  forehead  while  speak- 
ing, bj'  a  motion  of  his  head,  that  was  verj'  striking.^ 

Mr.  Robinson's  writings  at  this  time  did  not  evince  tho 
reasoning  powers  and  anal^'sis  of  character  shown  in  later 
3'ears  ;  but  the}'  were  extremel}'  humorous.  Mr.  C.  C.  Haze- 
well  sa^-s  of  them,  that  if  he  had  adopted  the  spelling  after- 
wards used  by  John  Phoenix,  Artemus  Ward,  Josh  Billings, 
and  other  American  humorists,  he  would  have  been  the  most 
famous  of  them  all.  By  reference  to  articles  written  during 
these  3-ears,  it  will  be  seen  that  he  did  practise  a  little  of  the 
style  of  spelling  used  by  those  authors.  In  the  Stebbins 
Biography  Avill  be  found  a  reference  to  Misery  X  Roads. 
This  may  have  suggested  Confederate  X  Roads  to  Petroleum 
V.  Xasby,  P.  M.  But,  while  Mr.  Robinson  delighted  in 
humorous  writing,  it  was  not  his  idea  of  true  Avriting  to 
amuse  the  people  only,  but  to  instruct  and  to  guide  them. 
He  delighted  in  politics  as  "  the  science  of  government," 
and  could  not  illustrate  his  thought  by  humorous  writing  and 
bad  spelling.  1852  Avas  the  great  Stebbins  year,  when  this 
famous  imaginar}-  character  was  put  up  as  an  independent 
candidate  for  President  in  opposition  to  Scott  and  Pierce.^ 

Mr.  Robinson  had  been  re-elected  to  the  legislature  of 

1  An  ambrotype  taken  in  Lowell  in  1852,  and  now  in  possession  of 
Mr.  Ilobinson's  family,  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  Mr.  Sumner's  looks 
at  that  time. 

2  In  answer  to  a  letter  on  the  subject  of  the  Carpet  Bag  and  Ensign 
Stebbins,  Mr.  B.  P.  Shillaber  writes,  — 

"  With  regard  to  Mr.  Robinson's  writings  for  tlie  Carpet  Bag,  I  Icnow  that  he 
was  much  interested  in  tlio  Stebbins  contest,  and  contributed  several  of  the 
best  articles  in  favor  of  tli.it  puissant  warrior's  cl.-iims  (that  of  the  Saugus  Nomi- 
nating Convention,  I  particularly  remember,  was  capital,  satirizing  as  it  did  the 
doings  of  meetings  of  that  character);  and  I  recall  the  heartiness  with  which  he 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing,  seeing  in  it  a  capital  satire  on  the  rage  for 
military  candidates  which  prevailed  at  the  time,  two  being  opposed  to  the  '  Hero 
of  the  Alamo'  and  of  the  ' Aroo.ftic'  The  creator  of  Ensign  Stebbins  was 
Benjamin  Drew;  and  John  C.  Jloore,  Mr.  Robinson,  and  myself  were  the  only 
ones  that  I  recall  who  helped  on  the  myth." 


58  MEMOIR  OF 

1853  on  the  same  coalition  ticket  with  B.  F.  Butler ; 
and  in  March  of  that  year  he  writes,  "  I  intend  to  be 
a  candidate  for  clerk  of  the  Constitutional  Convention. 
I  think  I  shall  be  chosen.  Perhaps  this  will  be  a  step 
towards  the  clerkship  of  the  House  next  winter."  Ma}^  4 
he  was  elected,  and  writes,  "  I  hope  I  shall  do  the  work 
well,  and  get  honor  as  well  as  profit.  Home  seems  pleas- 
anter  than  ever  after  these  long  absences  ;  and  the  little 
baby  shows  new  beauties  (to  say  nothing  of  new  stubborn- 
esses)  every  day.  I  am  glad  she  has  got  some  temper, 
hoping  we  shall  be  able  to  control  it."  Mr.  Robinson  wrote 
letters  to  "  The  New- York  Evening  Post"  from  this  conven- 
tion. Of  the  Journal  of  the  Convention,  N.  P.  Banks  (the 
president)  said  at  the  time,  that  it  "  was  made  better  than 
any  other  ever  made  in  the  House  ;  not  as  to  penmanship, 
—  there  it  is  inferior  to  manj-  others,  —  but  as  to  style  and 
fulness."  Mr.  Robinson,  as  clerk,  made  two  copies  in  his 
own  handwriting  of  the  proceedings  of  this  convention,  — 
one  for  the  printer,  and  a  duplicate,  in  case  any  accident 
should  happen  to  the  one  in  the  possession  of  the  State. ^ 

The  year  1852  had  been  a  ver}^  gloomy  year  for  "  The 
American."  In  spite  of  Mr.  Robinson's  legislative  and 
other  earnings,  which  had  been  used  to  pay  its  debts,  the 
paper  was  slowly  running  down.  Other  newspapers,  more 
suited  to  the  tastes  and  politics  of  the  people,  were  preferred 
to  it ;  and  the  editor  was  at  his  wits'  end  to  keep  it  alive. 
He  was  loath  to  give  it  up,  because  he  thought  the  people 
needed  its  teachings,  and  their  leaders  its  admonitions :  so 
he  struggled  on,  while  the  family  grew  larger,  and  its 
expenses  increased  to  actually  $464  a  year.  There  was  no 
thought  of  repudiating  debts,  or  failing  to  pay  them  at  ten 
cents  on  a  dollar,  until  the  pressure  became  very  hard  to 
bear.  But,  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  editor  bade  adieu  to  the 
closing  year,  and  welcomed  in  a  new  one,  in  the  following 
cheerful  editorial :  — 


1  This  duplicate  copy  has  been  preserved,  and  has  been  presented, 
since  Mr.  Eobinson's  death,  to  the  Town  Library  iu  Concord,  Mass. 


"WARRINGTON."  59 


GOOD-BY  AND   GOOD-MORNIXG. 


"  'Good-by,  1852 !  You  brought  us  all  something  good,  —  to  some, 
dear  wives,  dear  children,  dear  friends,  good  books,  choice  compan- 
ions, rare  season  of  pleasure ;  and,  if  to  others  you  brought  afflic- 
tions,—  as  you  must  to  some,  —  it  was  not  your  fault;  and  you 
brought  consolations  and  solaces,  which  did  all  that  could  be  done  to 
Ileal  the  wound  you  made. 

"'Good-morning,  1853!  You  are  welcome.  Hope  you  are  well. 
How  are  Mrs.  1853  and  all  the  little  1853's?'—  'All  well;  but  don't 
detain  me.  I've  a  great  deal  to  do.  I  have  got  my  budget  of  joys  and 
sorrows,  cares  and  blessings,  all  ordered  by  the  wise  and  good  Father, 
who  is  too  kind  to  tell  his  children  in  advance  whether  he  has  joy  or 
grief  in  store  for  them.  Let  me  pass  on,  or  Susan  and  Walter  will  be 
impatient  for  the  marriage-license  which  is  peeping  out  of  my  bag. 
Alas  !  there  is  a  sadder  message  for  them  ;  but  they  must  not  know  it. 
Good-by,  sir!'  " 

"The  Lowell  American"  stopped  just  after  the  close  of 
the  j-ear  1853.  It  had  fought  a  good  fight  for  nearl}-  four 
years,  and  in  it  the  editor  had  said  his  say  to  friend  and  foe. 
He  had  offended  eminent  men,  liberals  like  himself,  with 
whose  methods  he  did  not  agree,  and  had  lost  their  "  patron- 
age." No  longer  their  "guide,  philosoplier,  and  friend" 
(for  the  State  had  gone  back  into  Whig  hands) ,  still  he  was 
undaunted  ;  for  he  had  done  his  work  well.  "  And  so  dies," 
said  the  editor  in  his  farewell  leader,  "  this  living,  independ- 
ent, democratic,  antislavery  newspaper,  and  leaves  not  a 
political  paper  in  all  Middlesex  County  for  nearly  two  hun- 
dred thousand  people  to  read  —  neither  Whig  nor  Demo- 
crat —  which  is  not  socially,  morall}',  and  politically  dead 
in  hunker  trespasses  and  sins."  An  offended  liberal  stopped 
his  paper  in  November,  1853,  just  in  time;  and  Mr.  Kobin- 
son  answered  the  letter,  giving  a  short  account  of  his  experi- 
ence.    The  correspondence  was  as  follows  :  — 

W.  S.  Robinson,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir,  —  My  only  motives  for  receiving  "  The  Lowell  American  " 
at  all  were  two  :  first,  the  liope  that  it  would  serve  the  antislavery 
cause;  second,  the  good-will  I  entertained  to  its  editor.  Inasmuch 
as  for  some  time  I  have  ceased  to  regard  it  as  valuable  in  the  first 
light,  and  now  I  perceive  the  good-will  not  reciprocated,  I  trust  you 


60  MEMOIR  OF 

will  see  the  fitness  of  my  asking  to  be  excused  from  taking  it.  If 
there  is  any  thing  due  on  account  of  it,  I  will  cheerfully  pay  it  on 
your  informing  me  of  the  amount. 

I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

Deak  Sir,  —  I  have  never  looked  upon  my  subscriljers  as  patrons 
in  any  sense  of  the  word,  but  have  always  recognized  their  perfect 
right  to  come  and  go  at  pleasure,  without  apology.  You  might  as 
well  have  asked  to  be  excused  from  again  buying  of  your  grocer  or 
butcher.  As  you  have  sought  occasion,  where  none  existed,  for 
disparaging  my  labors  in  the  antislavery  cause,  I  have  this  to  say 
in  reply;  viz.,  that,  for  the  last  four  years  and  a  half,  I  have  given 
all  my  time,  all  I  have  received  from  my  paper,  and  two  thousand 
dollars  which  I  have  received  from  other  sources,  to  the  work  of 
establishing  an  antislavery  newspaper  in  Lowell.  If  j'ou,  sir,  have 
done  more,  of  which  I  entertain  considerable  doubt,  you  have  not,  at 
any  rate,  sacrificed  more.  If  I  have  not  servetl  the  antislavery  cause 
in  any  other  way,  I  have  preserved  my  own  freedom  of  thought  and 
of  speech  towards  all  men,  whether  political  friends  or  foes.  I  am  in 
hopes  to  be  able  to  do  this  in  future;  and,  although  I  entertain  no 
fears  whatever  on  that  account,  I  prefer  not  to  be  under  the  slightest 
temptation,  and  therefore  enclose  with  this  the  sum  of  one  dollar  and 
sixty-three  cents,  due  to  you  on  account,  and  remain 

Yery  respectfully  yours,  &c., 

W.   S.   EOBINSON. 

In  Januaiy,  1851,  "The  Commonwealth"  (not  Mr. 
Slack's),  a  daily  Free-Soil  paper,  was  started.  In  it  "The 
Chronotype"  (Eliziir  Wright's  paper),  "The  Emancipator," 
and  ' '  The  Boston  Republican,"  all  were  merged.  J.  B.  Alley, 
Samuel  Downer,  and  others,  had,  at  different  times,  the  con- 
trol of  it ;  and  among  its  editors  were  Joseph  Lyman,  Charles 
List,  Robert  Carter,  and  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe.  In  1854  it  was 
edited  by  J.  D.  Baldwin  (now  of  "The  Worcester  Spy")  ; 
and,  on  the  death  of  "  The  American,"  Mr.  Robinson  was 
engaged  b}'  him  as  assistant  editor.  From  Mr.  Robinson's 
Diary  and  Letters  I  am  able  to  quote  an  account  of  this 
newspaper :  — 

"'The  Commonwealth'  exercised  during  its  career  more  political 
influence  than  any  other  Boston  paper:  indeed,  the  political  power 
of  these  antislavery  papers  has  always  been  very  great.  The  Whig 
party  of  Massachusetts  was  broken  down  mainly  by  the  .party  which 


"WARRINGTON:'  Gl 

they  represented.  'The  Commonwealth'  sustained  the  coalition 
(against  the  Whigs),  and  did  much  towards  making  it  successful.  At 
last  came  political  sorrows,  and  in  battalions.  The  Convention  of 
1853  was  defeated,  and  the  State  passed  into  Whig  hands :  these  hands 
were,  however,  too  weak  to  hold  the  reins ;  and  Know-Nothiiigism  came 
up  in  18.j4,  and  swept  the  party  out  of  existence.  '  The  Common- 
wealth '  did  not  countenance  the  new  party.  Its  proprietors  got  tired 
of  the  figlit,  and  sold  out  to  certain  persons  who  proposed  to  establish 
a  Maine-law  newspaper.  This  they  did,  and  called  it  '  The  Tele- 
graph.' Eichard  Hildreth  became  responsible  editor;  and  among 
those  employed  in  writing  were  Kobert  Carter  and  myself.  '  The 
Telegraph'  was  the  first  paper  to  announce  the  names  of  the  candi- 
date nominated  by  the  Know-NoMiings  in  the  secret  senatorial  and 
congressional  conventions.  Mr.  Hildreth  left  after  a  while,  and  I  had 
principal  charge  of  it  until  after  the  election  of  1855.  lu  spite  of 
remonstrances  and  lamentations,  the  paper  opposed  Gardner  and  Gard- 
nerism ;  and,  after  the  election  (of  Gardner)  in  1855,  it  proposed  to 
continue  the  contest;  but  one  of  the  proprietors,  who  had  become 
disgruntled  by  reason  of  the  rejection  of  some  of  his  Gardnerite  lu- 
cubrations, dissented  from  this  policy,  and  I  was  deposed.^  I  think 
it  entirely  safe  to  say  that  '  The  Commonwealth  '  and  '  Telegraph  ' 
have  represented  the  popular  opinion  of  the  State  on  political  affairs 
more  nearly  than  any  other  paper  in  Boston.  There  was  continual 
strife  in  the  counsels  of  '  The  Telegraph '  between  its  founders  and 
its  writers;^  the  latter  having  very  positive  opinions  on  the  jury  law, 
which  did  not  allow  them  to  yield  to  the  demand  for  its  repeal.  Two 
or  three  of  the  stockholders  were  actually  driven  out  of  the  concern 
by  its  perversity  on  this  question  and  on  the  subject  of  Know- 
Nothingism." 

1  In  an  article  on  the  Republican  party,  Mr.  Robinson  says,  "This 
was  written  and  publisbed  the  day  after  Rockwell's  defeat  in  1855.  It 
was  an  atteniiJt  to  keep  up  the  antislavery  lij'ht,  for  wliicdi,  by  the  influ- 
ence i)l  William  B.  Sjiooner  and  others,  I  was  afterwards  dejiosed  from 
the  editorship  uf  the  Telegraph,  tliouj^h  retained  as  a  writer." 

2  The  proprietor  of  the  Telegraph  said  to  3Ir.  Robinson  in  the  early 
part  of  June,  1855,  "  In  giving  out  copy  to-morrow,  avoid  any  tiling 
of  a  party  character.  Orders  are  strict  from  headquarters  on  this  point : 
your  interest  and  mine  are  involved."  As  Jlr.  Robinson's  idea  of  the 
"  headquarters  "  of  an  antislavery  paper  was  a  little  different  from  that 
of  this  timid  jiroprietor,  be  paid  no  attention  to  what  he  called  this 
inqiudent  request,  but  went  on  publishing  article  after  article  in  pro- 
test against  tlardnerisni.  This  frightened  the  owners  of  the  paper  more 
and  )iioro;  for  they  feared  it  would  not  sell,  if  opposed  to  the  gov- 
ernor; and  they  thought  the  editor  might  be  more  conciliatory,  and 
only  speak  his  mind  so  far  as  expediency  would  allow. 


62  MEMOIR  OF 

In  June,  1854,  Antonj^  Burns  was  arrested  on  a  false 
pretext ;  his  pretended  owner,  Charles  F.  Suttle  of  Vh'ginia, 
having  procured  a  warrant  from  Edward  G.  Loring,  judge 
of  probate  of  Suffolk  Count}-,  and  United  States  slave  com- 
missioner. "The  Commonwealth,"  from  which  extracts 
will  be  found  at  this  date,  was  full  of  this  kidnapping  mat- 
ter. There  was  intense  excitement  over  it  in  the  communit}', 
and  the  antislaverj-  people  (or  "  agitators")  were  filled  with 
sadness  and  indignation.  To  prevent  the  rendition  of  Burns, 
Theodore  Parker  preached ;  Sumner,  Phillips,  S.  G.  Howe, 
F.  W.  Bird,  and  many  others,  spoke  ;  antislavery  editors 
wrote  ;  and  men  and  women  worked  and  pra^-ed  ;  but  in  vain. 
Massachusetts  was  humiliated.  Guarded  by  armed  police  and 
military  force,  the  disgraceful  procession  marched  down  State 
Street  —  amid  the  hisses  and  contemptuous  outcries  of  the 
crowd,  and  in  the  face  of  the  mourning  flags  ^  flung  from 
many  windows  —  to  the  revenue-cutter  "Morris,"  ordered 
by  Pres.  Pierce  to  bear  back  into  servitude  this  helpless 
man.-  A  movement  was  at  once  started  by  Mr.  Robinson 
(by  an  article  in  "The  Commonwealth"),  which  resulted  in 
the  removal  of  Judge  Loring  four  years  after  ' '  for  disobedi- 
ence to  the  Personal-liberty  Law  in  permitting  the  kidnap- 
ping of  Antony  Burns."  He  could  not  be  "conciliatory" 
when  the  "  poor  dumb  bondsmen's  cause,"  for  which  he  had 
labored  all  his  life,  was  trembling  in  the  balance,  and  a 
party  and  a  governor  known  to  be  hostile  to  all  its  needs 
were  coming  into  power;  and  so  he  wrote  on  steadily  for 
the  removal  of  the  unjust  judge,  for  the  defeat  of  the 
Know-Nothings,  and  for  the  cause  of  human  rights.  It  was 
said  of  him  at  this  time,  that  there  was  hardl}'  any  news- 
paper position  to  which  he  might  not  have  aspired,  if  he  had 
been  less  rahid^  and  more  willing  to  be  on  the  popular  side, 
and  (as  the  old  song  has  it)  "eurchy,  curchy,  up  and  down," 

1  Six  Avere  flung  from  the  office  of  the  Coinmonwealth. 

2  He  was  bought  subsequently  liy  some  Xorthera  people,  and  went 
to  Canada,  where  he  became  pastor  of  a  colored  church  in  St.  Catha- 
rine's, and  died  of  consumption  in  1862. 


''WARRINGTON."  63 

to  public  opinion.  Perhaps  the  fact  of  his  working  very 
cheap  —  cheaper  than  a  less  scrupulous  writer  would  have 
done  —  helped  him  to  retain  his  position  as  writer,  and  to 
continue,  as  Mr.  Hazewell  said,  to  enliven  "  The  Telegraph" 
with  *'  his  rich  humor  and  sparkling  wit." 

The  Know-Xothing  or  American  party  (as  Henry  Wilson 
calls  it  in  his  "Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave-Power")  was 
well  described  by  Rufus  Choate  in  a  letter  to  a  friend. 
Speaking  of  the  "Hiss"  legislature  of  1855  (as  the  first 
Know-Nothing  legislature  was  called,  on  account  of  the  in- 
famous transactions  of  a  member  of  that  name) ,  Mr.  Choate 
says, — 

"Your  estate  is  gracious  that  keeps  you  out  of  bearing  of  our 
politics.  Any  thing  more  low,  obscene,  feculent,  tbe  manifold  beavings 
of  history  bare  not  cast  up.  We  shall  come  to  tbe  worship  of  onions, 
cats,  and  things  vermiculate.  Eenown  and  grace  are  dead.  '  There's 
nothing  serious  in  mortality.'  Bless  your  lot,  which  gives  you  volca- 
noes, earthquakes,  feather-cinctured  chiefs,  and  dusky  sights  of  tbe 
tropics." 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Choate's  numerous  adjectives,  this 
part^'  might  be  called  a  paradoxical  or  seemingl}-  absurd 
party.  It  was  founded  on  prejudice  of  birth,  and  prejudice  of 
color ;  and  while  it  allowed  none  but  native- American  whites 
to  hold  office,  or  sit  in  its  councils,  it  refused  the  least  ves- 
tige of  a  right  to  all  native-American  blacks.  Yet  many 
antislavery  politicians,  for  various  reasons,  were  willing  to 
join  this  secret  organization,  and  be  elected  to  office  during 
its  administration.  With  all  its  faults,  of  which  secrecy 
was  not  the  least,  the  Know-Xothing  party  "  builded  better 
than  it  knew  "  in  one  respect ;  for  it  helped  to  drive  the  last 
nail  in  the  coffin  of  the  defunct  Whig  party.  At  a  Republi- 
can convention  in  Concord,  October,  1.S50,  a  coalition  was 
proposed  between  that  part}-  and  the  Know-Xothings.  Mr. 
Robinson  opposed  this  attempt,  thinking  that  the  Republican 
party  was  strong  enough  even  then  to  stand  alone  ;  and  he 
was  so  vexed  at  the  course  pursued  hy  Henry  Wilson  at  the 
State  Convention   (held  in  Worcester  a  little  later),  that, 


64  MEMOIR  OF 

"w'lien  he  returned  home  to  Concord,  he  entered  his  house, 
and,  before  speaking  to  a  member  of  his  family,  went  up  to 
an  unframed  picture  of  Mr.  Wilson,  pulled  it  down  from 
the  wall,  tore  it  straight  in  two,  and  threw  it  upon  the  floor. 
This  act  created  great  consternation  among  the  three  little 
children  playing  together  on  the  floor ;  for  they  had  never 
before  seen  such  an  exhibition  of  anger  from  their  mild- 
mannered  father.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wilson,  published  in 
"  The  Worcester  Spy,"  Mr.  Robinson  gives  his  opinion  of 
this  disgraceful  coalition.  He  thought  it  was  "  formed  by 
men  who  threw  away  the  election  of  1856  b}"  dabbling  in 
the  dirty  pool  of  Know-Nothingism  ;  or,  if  they  did  not  do 
this,  they  pursued  a  cautious,  timid,  and  time  -  serving 
policy."  What  was  left  of  the  Free-Soilers  as  a  party  seems 
to  have  been  swallowed  up  by  this  and  other  coalitions  ; 
but  its  elements,  being  indestructible,  re-appoared  again  in 
the  "  Straight  Republicans,"  the  nucleus  of  that  great  party 
which  was  to  follow  a  3'ear  or  two  later,  and  find  a  name  in 
1859.  Mr.  Robinson  never  had  the  least  affiliation  with  the 
Know-Nothings,  whose  secrets  and  Avhose  tricks  he  hated 
cordially.  lie  attacked  them  at  all  points,  from  the  gov- 
ernor down  to  his  lowest  subordinates,  and  expressed  his 
opinions  in  "The  Telegraph"  and  in  "The  Springfield 
Republican,"  where  the  "Warrington"  letters  began  to 
appear  in  185G.  He  was  more  than  reconciled  that  his  name 
should  not  appear  as  the  editor  of  "  The  Telegraph,"  since 
he  could  not  say  in  it  all  he  desired,  as  he  had  done  in  "  The 
Lowell  American."  The  parly  hated  him  cordially  in  return 
for  his  hostility  ;  and  the  fight  was  so  bitter  at  times,  that 
Mr.  Robinson  was  warned  b}'  friends  that  something  malig- 
nant would  be  done  if  he  kept  it  up.  He  replied,  tliat  he 
had  ' '  got  the  Know-Nothings  almost  killed  off",  and  he 
thought  he  could  finish  them." 

When  Fremont  was  defeated  in  November,  1856,  b}' James 
Buchanan,'  the  antislaverj'  people  were  very  much  troubled 

1  Buchanan's  atlmiuistration  has  not  a  principle  to  its  baCli;  not  even 
the  poor  one  of  rewarding  its  friends,  and  i^uuishing  its  enemies.— 
Waerington  in  Neic-Yorlc  Tribune  in  1858. 


"WARRINGTON."  65 

and  disheartened  about  the  final  issue  of  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. Charles  Sumner  hud  been  struck  down  (Ma}-,  1856) 
in  his  seat  in  Congress  b}-  Preston  S.  Brooks  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  was  thereby  disabled  from  taking  his  noble  part  in 
the  contest.  Mr.  Robinson  was  not  so  much  discouraged 
as  man}-  others  ;  for  he  saw  the  cause  had  gained  a  gi'eat 
deal  with  the  people  during  ten  years  ;  and  his  axiom  was 
then,  as  ever  after,  that  the  people  are  always  to  be  trusted 
in  all  great  movements.  In  185G,  besides  writing  constantly 
for  "The  Telegraph,"  he  wrote  letters  for  "The  Fitchburg 
Reveille"  during  the  session  of  the  legislature,  and  went  to 
Worcester  for  a  few  weeks  to  write  for  "  The  Sp}-."  While 
there,  his  articles  attracted  much  attention,  and  were  thought 
to  have  been  written  b}-  Judge  Allen,  on  account  of  the 
"  gun-metal  "  in  them. 

In  August,  1854,  to  be  near  his  mother,  now  old  and 
feeble,  Mr.  Robinson  had  moved  to  Concord,  Mass.,  into  a 
house  belonging  to  John  Thoreau,  the  father  of  John  and 
Henr}'  Thoreau.  He  had  always  been  very  fond  of  his 
native  town,  and  had  kept  up  his  interest  in  it,  saying  that 
it  was  a  good  place  to  be  born  in,  and  would  be  a  good 
place  to  return  to  some  time.  On  one  occasion  he  said 
jocosely,  that  any  thing,  however  feeble  and  uninteresting, 
that  had  the  name  of  Concord  upon  it,  would  always  be  inter- 
esting to  him  ;  and  it  was  indeed  a  delightful  change  for  him 
to  remove  from  the  bustling  City  of  Spindles  to  the  quiet  and 
repose  of  old  Concord.  He  lived  there  during  the  j'ears 
1854-5G  and  part  of  1857,  and  was  employed  at  a  stated 
salary  in  the  profession  that  he  loved.  His  famil}-,  includ- 
ing his  mother  and  his  mother-in-law,  were  comfortably 
provided  for ;  and  the  old  "Lowell  American"  debts  were 
paid.  Here  the  famil}'  were  reclothed :  a  new  Sunday  suit 
was  bought  for  himself  (the  first  since  his  marriage),  and 
leghorn  hats  for  the  two  little  girls,  to  their  well-remembered 
delight,  since  they  never  before  had  worn  any  thing  but 
sun-bonnets  or  "shakers."  A  part  of  a  pew  was  hired  in 
the  Unitarian  church ;  and  all  old  enough  (or  not  too  old) 


66  MEMOIR  OF 

went  to  hear  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Mr.  Frost,  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Riple}'.  A  short  vacation  was  taken,  the  first  for 
five  5'ears  ;  and  luxuries  even  began  to  creep  into  the  liouse. 
Thirt}'  dollars'  worth  of  new  furniture  was  bought  for  the 
parlor ;  and,  when  it  was  shown  to  this  plain-living  man,  he 
said,  "  "What  a  pit}'  it  is  for  people  to  work  so  hard  for  a  few 
stuffed  wooden  things  to  set  up  in  a  room  to  be  looked  at ! 
What  does  it  all  amount  to?  There  is  no  happiness  in  it, 
nor  no  good,  either." 

Concord  had  now  become  the  centre  of  progressive  thought 
in  New  England ;  Hawthorne,  the  Alcotts,  Ellery  Chan- 
ning  the  poet,  and  husband  of  Margaret  Fuller's  sister,  and 
others,  having  made  it  their  abode  ;  and  pilgrims  had  already 
begun  to  come  from  all  parts  of  the  countr}'  to  visit  the 
homes  of  these  writers,  and  see  Emerson,  the  wise  master 
and  teacher.  Hawthorne  had  lived  in  the  "  Old  Manse  ;  " 
but  at  this  time  (1854)  he  was  absent  in  Europe,  having 
been  appointed  consul  to  Liverpool  under  Pres.  Pierce,  his 
personal  friend.  Extracts  from  a  short  biography  of  Haw- 
thorne (written  b}"  Mr.  Robinson  in  1861)  will  give  some 
account  of  his  early  Concord  life  :  — 

"In  1842  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  and  his  wife  came  to  live  at 
Concord,  in  the  Old  Manse.  Curiously  enough,  Emerson  himself 
had  once  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  Old  Manse.  In  its  rear  was  a 
delightful  little  nook  of  a  study,  in  which  he  wrote  '  Nature ; '  and 
he  used  to  watch  '  the  Assyrian  dawn,  and  the  Paphian  sunset  and 
moon-rising,'  from  the  summit  of  the  eastern  hill  near  at  hand. 
The  windows  of  the  study  peeped  between  willow-branches  down 
into  the  orchard,  revealing  glimpses  of  the  Elver  Assabet  shining 
through  the  trees.  From  one  of  the  windows,  facing  northward,  a 
broader  view  of  the  river  was  gained,  and  at  a  s^Dot  where  its  hith- 
erto obscure  waters  gleam  forth  into  the  light  of  history.  It  was  at 
this  window  that  the  clergyman  who  then  dwelt  in  the  manse  stood, 
watching  the  outbreak  of  a  long  and  deadly  struggle  between  two. 
nations.  He  saw  the  irregular  array  of  his  parishioners  on  the  far- 
ther side  of  the  river,  and  the  glittering  line  of  the  British  on  the 
hither  bank;  and  be  waited  in  an  agony  of  suspense  the  rattle  of  the 
musketry.  It  came;  and  there  needed  but  a  gentle  wind  to  sweep 
the  battle-smoke  around  this  quiet  home.  Under  the  stone  wall 
which  separates  the  battle-ground  from  the  precincts  of  the  par- 


''WARRINGTON."  67 

sonage  is  still  to  be  seen  the  grave  of  two  Britisli  soldiers  slain  in 
the  skirmish,  who  have  since  slept  peacefully  there  where  they  were 
laid. 

"  While  Uawthorne  lived  at  the  Old  Manse,  he  had  many  visitors  of 
mark;  for  his  name  had  now  become  known.  There  were  Lowell  the 
poot,  and  Emerson,  and  Margaret  Fuller,  and  Ellery  Channing,  who 
occasionally  came  to  enjoy  a  day's  fishing  in  the  river.  It  was  a  kind 
of  poet's  life  which  Hawthorne  led,  amidst  the  sound  of  bees,  the 
murmuring  of  streams,  and  the  rustling  of  leaves.  What  was  more, 
the  Old  Manse  was  said  to  be  '  haunted ; '  and  occasionally  there 
came  a  rustling  noise,  as  of  a  minister's  silk  gown,  sweeping  through 
the  very  midst  of  the  company,  so  closely  as  almost  to  brush  against 
the  chairs ;  j'ct  there  was  nothing  visible.  Ilawthorne,  in  1S4-1,  became 
surveyor  of  the  customs  in  Salem ;  and  thither  he  removed  accord- 
ingly. He  remained  there  three  years,  occasionally  digging  among 
the  old  archives  of  the  place,  amongst  which  he  professes  to  have 
discovered  the  record  of  the  story  which  he  has  so  skilfully  woven 
together  in  his  'Scarlet  Letter.'  Hawthorne  went  in  as  surveyor 
with  the  Locofoco  or  Polk  administration;  and  he  also  went  out  with 
them.  It  is  one  of  the  evils  of  the  popular  system  of  governing  in 
America,  that,  at  every  change  of  power  from  party  to  party,  there  is 
a  clean  sweep  made  of  those  in  office,  in  favor  of  the  adherents  of 
the  new  dynasty.  As  head  surveyor,  Ilawthorne  had  it  in  his  power, 
on  assuming  office,  to  turn  out  the  former  officials,  and  supply  tlieir 
places  with  those  of  his  own  kidney  in  politics.  But  Hawthorne 
never  could  find  it  in  his  heart  to  dismiss  the  old  veterans:  so  they 
vegetated  on,  each  in  his  old  place," 

There  were  frequent  oppovtniiitics  of  seeing  Ilenv}-  Tho- 
reau,  as  he  often  came  with  liis  father  to  woric  on  llie  land 
belonging  to  the  house  in  wliich  Mr.  Robinson  lived,  or,  as 
the  children  said,  to  "  paint  tlie  handles  of  the  trees."  His 
meditative  figure  was  often  seen  wallcing  across  the  sunnj' 
meadows,  with  some  live  specimen  of  a  "  species"  dangling 
from  his  hand,  while  (to  use  his  own  expression)  "  the  sun 
on  his  back  seemed  like  a  gentle  herdsman  driving  him  home 
at  evening."  He  sometimes  called  on  Mr.  Robinson.  He 
was  a  great  talker,  sitting  willi  his  head  bent  over,  and 
carrying  on  the  "conversation"  all  b}'  himself.  On  one 
occasion  we  had  a  visitor  who  had  written  several  town  his- 
tories, and  was  learned  in  Indian  matters.  Thoreau  called 
while  he  was  there  ;  and,  the  conversation  soon  turning  to 


68  MEMOIR  OF 

Indian  affairs,  Thoreau  talked  our  friend  dumb  in  a  very 
short  time.  His  book  ("  Walden,  a  Life  in  the  Woods") 
was  published  in  1854,  and  drew  many  visitors  to  the  little 
hut  by  the  shore  of  the  pond  where  the  philosopher  had  lived 
on  three  cents  a  day,  planted  his  beans,  and  written  his 
immortal  pages.  The  fact  of  his  living  so  cheaply  was 
much  discussed  in  Concord,  more  even  than  the  quality  of 
his  writings  ;  and  it  was  suspected  by  his  incredulous  towns- 
people that  the  ' '  cupboard  ' '  of  this  disciple  of  Pythagoras 
was  often  replenished  from  his  mother's  larder.  Said  Mr. 
Robinson  in  his  "  Warrington"  Letters,  — 

"It  is  fortunate  for  literature  tliat  Tlioreau  lived,  and  built  his 
house  on  the  shores  of  "Walden  Pond,  when  lie  did.  If  his  birth  had 
been  postponed  twenty  years,  we  should  never  have  had  his  most 
delightful  book,  and  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  all  American  books. 
'  Walden '  is  as  good  of  its  kind  as  any  thing  in  American  or  Eng- 
lish literature.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  the  best  book  ever  written  in 
Concord.  He  hated,  or  affected  to  hate,  all  crowds,  and  said  the 
pleasantest  place  in  Boston  was  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  D(?p6t,  because 
it  was  the  road  home.  Wliat  would  he  say  if  he  could  see  Walden 
Pond  as  it  is  now,  on  whose  banks  he  built  his  little  house,  and 
lived,  raising  beans  on  his  farm,  and  charming  the  fishes  with  his 
flute  ?  or,  rather,  what  would  he  write  and  print,  if  pen  and  ink  and  the 
press  were  open  to  him  ?  for  I  will  not  assume  that  he  cannot  see  and 
talk  as  well  as  ever.  The  pond,  six  months  ago,  was  more  solitary 
than  Sleepy-hollow  Cemetery,  where  his  body  rests  with  Hawthorne, 
and  others  not  so  famous.  Now  the  cemetery  has  the  advantage  of 
the  i3ond ;  for  the  railroad  trains  frequently  stop  at  the  pond,  and  land 
their  great  picnic-parties,  who,  for  the  time  being,  make  it  the  busiest 
part  of  the  town.  Thoreau  professed  to  find  his  most  entertaining 
company  in  the  morning;  for  then  nobody  ever  came  to  see  him: 
and  Mr.  Emerson  said  of  Walden  Pond,  that  it  was  an  excellent  place 
for  parties,  especially  parties  of  one." 

Mr.  Robinson  thought  Thoreau' s  poem  "  SjTnpathy  "  an 
evidence  of  true  genius.  Thoreau' s  mother  was  one  of  the 
most  graphic  talkers  imaginable,  and  held  her  listeners  dumb. 
In  describing  scenes  of  her  early  life,  she  once  told  of  the 
shipwreck  of  a  schooner  upon  which  she  was  a  passenger,  on 
a  voyage  to  Maine.    The  dark  night,  the  sound  of  the  waves, 


"WARRUSrOTON."  69 

the  cries  of  the  people,  and  all  the  tragic  events,  were  related 
with  a  vividness  which  photographed  it  at  once,  a  startling 
picture,  upon  the  mind  of  the  hearer.  His  father,  on  the 
contrar}',  was  the  most  silent  of  men,  particularly  in  the 
presence  of  his  wife  and  gifted  son.  At  the  annual  melon- 
part}'  at  his  house, ^  to  which  Mr.  Robinson  and  his  wife  were 
invited,  Mr.  Robinson  was  very  much  struck  by  this  silence 
among  his  guests,  and  nearly  convulsed  the  friends  with 
whom  he  was  talking  by  quoting  from  Emerson,  sotto  voce,  — 

"  The  silent  organ  loudest  chants 
The  master's  requiem." 

The  mother's  famil}',  from  whom  Thoreau  seems  to  have 
inherited  his  genius,  were  very  eccentric  ;  and  stories  of  their 
sayings  are  still  current  in  Concord.  One  of  these  is  worth 
telling.  It  relates  to  an  uncle  of  Henry  Thoreau,  Charles 
Dunbar.  "  In  1800,"  says  history,  "'-  a  revolution  took  place 
in  the  administration  of  public  afiairs  ;  and  the  Republican 
party,  having  become  the  majority",  succeeded  in  elevating 
their  candidate,  Thomas  Jefferson,  to  the  presidenc}',  in  oppo- 
sition to  Mr.  Adams."  -  People  were  very  much  excited  over 
this  election,  and  all  the  voting  force  was  called  out.  For 
tlie  first  time,  old  men  were  carried  to  the  polls  in  arm-chairs  ; 
and  the  children  gathered  round  to  see  the  curious  sight. 
Unfortunately,  there  was  a  property  qualification  in  those 
daj's  ;  no  man  being  allowed  to  vote  unless  he  owned  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  property.  Charles  Dunbar's  mother  had 
married  for  her  second  luisband  a  rich  farmer  named  Minot, 
who  was  ver}'  anxious  that  the  j'oung  man  should  vote  for 
Jefferson  ;  and,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  do  so,  deeded  him  a 
small  farm  in  a  neighboring  town.  He  voted  ;  and,  after  elec- 
tion-da}',  Mr.  Minot  wanted  the  property  back  ;  but  Dunbar, 


1  The  melons  were  of  Henry  Thoreau's  own  raising. 

2  Kepuhlican  really  meant,  Democrat  in  1801.  W.  S.  R.  says  in  1875, 
"  In  Jefferson's  day,  the  government  really  started  off  on  the  Demo- 
cratic basis." 


70  MEMOIR  OF 

following  the  advice  of  Mr.  William  CogsAvell,^  his  friend, 
refused  to  give  it  up.  The  case  was  brought  before  Squire 
Pleywood  of  Concord,  who  said,  "The  property  belongs  to 
Charles  Dunbar  ;  for  I  made  out  the  papers  all  right  according 
to  law  ;  and,  if  he  gives  it  up,  it  will  be  of  his  own  accord 
and  free  will."  He  did  not  give  it  up,  but  lived  on  it  alone 
all  his  life  ;  and  it  finally  came  into  the  Thoreau  family. 
Dunbar  frequently  came  to  Concord,  and,  when  there,  always 
called  at  Mr.  Cogswell's  house.  On  one  of  these  visits,  put- 
ting his  head  abruptly  into  the  window  (as  usual),  he  said, 
"  I  could  not  have  come  to  see  you  if  one  of  my  oxen  had 
not  died.  I  sold  the  hide  and  horns  for  money  enough  to 
come  with :  so  '  there's  no  great  loss  without  some  small 
gain.'  "  Miss  Sophia  Thoreau,  sister  of  Henry,  and  the  last 
survivor  of  the  family',  died  in  1876  ;  and  the  Concord  Tho- 
reaus  are  now  extinct.  Mr.  Robinson  had  little  acquaintance 
with  the  other  literarj'  personages  of  Concord,  except  C.  C. 
Hazewell,  with  Avhom  he  was  alwa3-s  on  terms  of  friendly 
intimac}'.  He  w'as  in  the  habit  of  dropping  in  at  Mr.  Haze- 
well's  sanctum  at  all  hours,  sure  to  find  him  writing,  with 
inky  fingers,  or  reading,  and  "  puflSng  the  friendly  cigar;" 
and  man}'  a  brave  article  has  been  written  on  both  sides  of 
a  question,  inspired  b}'  the  witty  encounters  between  them. 
Mr.  Robinson  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  historical 
knowledge  of  his  friend,  who,  he  said,  talked  more  freely  of 
the  family  aff'airs  of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  knew  more 
about  them,  than  he  did  of  his  nearest  neighbor's.  Mrs. 
Hazewell' s  knowledge  of  history  was  almost  as  accurate  as 
that  of  her  husband,  and  she  sometimes  was  able  to  jog  his 
memory  a  little,  "When  the  Czar  had  his  silver  wedding  in 
1866,  there  was  a  discussion  between  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hazewell 
as  to  the  nationalit}'  of  the  Czarina.  Mrs.  Hazewell  said 
that  she  was  a  Hesse-Darmstadt  princess,  and  that  was  the 
reason  for  their  keeping  the  day  in  such  fashion.  This  Mr. 
Hazewell  disputed ;  but,  on  looking  in  a  book  of  reference 
brought  for  that  purpose,  his  wife  was  proved  to  be  right. 

1  Brother  of  "W.  S.  Eobinson's  mother. 


"  WARRINGTON."  7 1 

Of  Concord  as  an  autislaveiy  town,  Mr.  Robinson  wrote 
in  1874, — 

"As  I  said,  Concord  was  not  an  antlslavery  place;  but  some  events 
in  antislavery  liistory  have  occurred  there  :  for  example,  the  capture 
and  rescue  of  Mr.  Sanborn  (in  the  John  Brown  case)  on  a  warrant 
from  the  United-States  Senate,  and  the  rescue  of  Shadrach.  Old  Dr. 
Eipley  was  as  slow  as  any  of  the  Unitarian  clergy  to  accept  anti- 
slavery  doctrines,  and  his  colleagues  were  '  conservative '  men.  It 
was  more  difficult  to  get  the  meeting-house  for  George  Thompson 
than  for  the  '  Washingtonian '  Hawkins ;  and  there  was  much  op- 
position to  both.  Mr.  Emerson,  who  never  troubles  himself  about 
organizations,  was  not,  I  think,  an  original  abolitionist,  any  more 
than  lion.  Samuel  Hoar  (father  of  E.  R.  and  G.  F.  Hoar),  who  had 
the  name  of  being  a  conservative  on  the  subject  when  George  Thomp- 
son came  up  to  disturb  Dr.  Eipley  and  the  Concord  pews,  I  may 
seem  to  have  underrated  Mr.  Emerson's  antislavery  position.  His 
first  demonstration  that  way  was  his  address  on  West-India  eiiianci- 
pation  (1843),  which  was  pretty  early;  but  before  this,  I  think,  his 
early  essays,  and  his  philosophy  generally,  were  thought  to  tend  to 
indifferentism  on  the  subject."  ^ 

If  not  an  antislaver}^  town,  Concord  was  a  famous  anti- 
slavery  centre,  and  a  depot  of  the  "'  underground  railroad," 
which  carried  so  many  colored  citizens  on  their  w^ay  to 
freedom.  Shadrach  had  been  consigned  there  after  his 
escape  in  Boston,  and  was  refreshed  at  the  house  of  Francis 
E.  liigelpw,  the  friendly  blacksmith.  Mrs.  Bigelow's  account 
of  this  historic  affair  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Shadrach  was  arrested  by  his  pretended  master,  with  carving- 
knife  in  hand,  Avhile  acting  as  waiter  in  a  hotel  on  Court  Street,  and 
hui'ricd  at  once  (o  the  Court  House  to  be  tried.  On  the  alarm  being 
given,  the  Court  House  was  filled  with  a  crowd  of  black  and  white 

1  Some  extracts  from  a  letter  Avritten  to  Mr.  Robinson  (Jan.  14, 1844) 
will  show  tho  state  of  feeling  at  that  time  on  tliis  subject:  "'To-night 
all  our  folks  have  gone  to  tho  Lyceum  to  hear  Wendell  Phillips  lecture 
on  slavery.  We  expect  a  small  row;  for  it  is  understood  IMr.  Keyes, 
(father  of  Jolm  S.  Keyes,  lately  United-States  marshal)  will  reply  to 
him.  I  hope  he  will;  but  he  will  get  the  worst  of  it,  for  Phillips  has  too 
many  guns  for  him.  They  have  already  had.  some  fuss  in  the  Lyceum 
about  his  being  invited  to  lecture  on  tliat  subject. 

"  P.  S.  —  Phillips's  lecture  is  over,  and  no  reply.  Mr.  Keyes  was  there, 
but  said  nothing." — II.  M. 


72  MEMOIR  OF 

men,  who  moved  forward  in  a  body,  and,  surrounding  Shadrach, 
carried  him  out,  entangled  in  the  mass.  No  one  except  Lewis  Hay- 
den  knew  him  from  any  of  the  other  colored  men.  He  went  out  with 
the  rest,  and  was  soon  lost  in  the  crowd.  He  and  Hayden  coolly 
walked  off  toward  East  Cambridge,  keeping  in  sight  of  each  other  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  street.  Here  they  stopped  at  the  house  of  Rev. 
J.  C.  Lovejoy,  and  proceeded  thence  to  Concord  in  a  carriage  drawn 
by  a  black  horse  and  a  white  one,  and  driven  by  a  Mr.  Smith.  They 
arrived  at  Concord  at  three  o'clock  Sunday  morning,  and  drove  into 
Mr.  Bigelow's  yard.  Mr.  Bigelow,  hearing  the  carriage,  opened  his 
door,  and  let  in  the  poor  fugitive,  though  the  penalty  was  a  thousand 
dollars,  and  six  months'  imprisonment,  for  '  aiding  and  abetting '  a 
slave  to  escape.  The  blinds  of  the  house  were  at  once  shut,  and  the 
windows  darkened,  to  evade  the  notice  of  any  passers-by ;  and  breakfast 
was  prepared  in  the  bedchamber  (by  Mrs.  Bigelow),  on  an  air-tight 
stove,  with  the  bureau  for  a  table.  Mrs.  Brooks,  an  antislavery  neigh- 
bor, was  sent  for,  and  came,  accompanied  by  her  husband,  Hon  Nathan 
Brooks.  Mr.  Brooks,  though  an  abolitionist,  did  not  go  so  far  as  his 
wife  in  advocating  radical  antislavery  measures ;  and  he  had  warned 
her  that  he  should  not  countenance  any  such  '  aiding  and  abetting.' 
But  when  he  saw  the  poor  fugitive,  so  frightened  and  forlorn,  his  kind 
heart  made  him  forget  the  majesty  of  the  law ;  and  he  did  his  part 
by  furnisliing  Shadracli  witli  a  hat  of  his  own  with  which  to  disguise 
himself,  —  the  hat  of  a  law-abiding  citizen!  As  soon  as  Shadrach 
was  refreshed  (he  was  so  fatigued  with  loss  of  sleep,  and  anxiety,  that 
he  could  hardly  keep  awake  while  eating),  Mr.  Bigelow,  in  a  wagon 
hired  for  the  purpose,  drove  him  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Drake  in 
Leominster,  another  station  on  the  '  underground  railroad.'  From 
there  he  was  carried  to  Fitchburg,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Canada. 
Meanwhile  Mr.  Hayden  and  Mr.  Smith  drove  leisurely  to  Sudbury, 
stopped  with  friends  there,  went  to  church,  and,  after  a  good  dinner, 
returned  unmolested  to  Boston.  When  the  trial  came  on  for  the 
rescuers  of  Shadrach,  there  was  some  difficulty  in  impanelling  a  jury. 
Mr.  Bigelow  was  drawn  once,  and  rejected ;  but  afterwards,  by  some 
quibble  of  law,  he  was  again  chosen,  and  sat  in  the  case.  The  rescuers 
were  all  cleared  by  the  disagreement  of  the  jury,  Mr.  Bigelow  being 
the  one  who  stood  out,  not  because,  as  has  been  said,  he  was  biassed 
by  his  feelings  and  action  in  tlie  case,  but  because  he  conscientiously 
believed  that  the  men  tried  as  the  rescuers  of  Shadrach  had  no  more 
to  do  with  it  than  all  the  rest  of  the  crowd  in  the  Court  House ;  and 
he  thought  that  the  witnesses  in  this  case  must  have  perjured  them- 
selves." 1 

1  Persons  indicted  iu  1851  as  the  rescuers  of  Shadrach:  James  Scott, 
Lewis  Hayden,  Elizur  "Wright,  John  P.  Coburn,  Thomas  P.  Smith, 
Joseph  K.  Hayes. 


"WARRINGTON."  73 

A  woman's  antislaveiy  society  had  been  formed  in  Con- 
cord, in  1837,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Samuel  Barrett.^  It  had 
seventy  members  at  first ;  but  when  Mr.  Garrison  attacked 
the  Church,  calling  it  "  the  bulwark  of  slaver}^,"  the  society 
was  divided,  and  a  new  organization  was  formed  of  radical 
abolitionists  who  sj-mpathized  with  Mr.  Garrison,  and,  like 
him,  were  regardless  of  both  Church  and  State. ^  This  soci- 
ety was  in  active  operation  during  Mr.  Robinson's  residence 
in  Concord  ;  and,  though  its  membership  was  small,  it  met 
regularly,  kept  busily-  at  work  ;  and  through  it  Concord  was 
represented  at  the  annual  subscription  festivals  and  the  anti- 
slaver^'  fairs.  Mrs.  Nathan  Brooks,  the  president,  was  its 
chief  organizer  and  inspirer  ;  and  it  v.as  through  her  efforts 
that  the  society  was  so  long  maintained.  It  met  at  the 
houses  of  the  members,  wliere  a  plain  tea  was  provided,  to 
which  the  gentlemen  were  invited.®  The  members  of  this 
society  in  18o7  Avere  Mrs.  Nathan  Brooks,  Mrs.  John  Tho- 
reau,  Mrs.  F.  E.  Bigelow,  Mrs.  John  Brown,  jun.,  Mrs.  Sam- 
uel Barrett,  Mrs.  Timotliy  Prescott,  Mrs.  Minott  Pratt,  Mrs. 
R.  "W.  Emerson,  Mrs.  Jerome  Richardson,  Mrs.  E.  R. 
Hoar,  Mrs.  Simon  Brown,  Mrs.  Lucy  Brown,  Mrs.  A.  B. 
Alcott,  Mrs.  AY.  S.  Robinson,  Miss  Mary  Rice,  Miss  Harriet 
Stowe,  Miss  Caroline  Stowe,  Miss  Carrie  Pratt,  Miss  Sophia 
Thoreau,  Miss  Ann  Whiting,  Miss  Jane  Whiting,  Miss  Ellen 
Emerson,  Miss  Martha  Bartlett,  and  probably  others  whose 
names  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain. 

The  president,  Sirs.  Brooks  (though  a  woman  of  prop- 
erty), desiring  to  earn  herself  the  monc}'  used  in  tlie  sacred 
cause,  made  cake  by  an  unfailing  recipe  of  her  own,  and 
sold  it  to  lier  neiglibors  and  friends :  it  was  named  for  her, 


1  ITcr  son,  lately  deceasetl,  left  four  huiidred  dollars  to  tlie  woman- 
suffrage  cause. 

2  The  churches  were  very  anj^y  with  Mr.  Garrison;  and  at  one  time 
he  could  not  lind  a  phice  in  Boston  to  speak  in,  excepting  a  hall  con- 
ti'olk'd  by  the  followers  of  Thomas  Paine. 

3  It  met  at  the  house  of  W.  S.  Eobinson,  Jan.  27,  lSo7,  when  tea 
ladies  were  present. 


74  MEMOIR  OF 

Brooks  Cctke.  At  every  "  tea-fight "  in  Concord  this  cake 
was  prett}-  sure  to  be  found ;  and  the  gentlemen,  Avho,  in 
turn,  entertained  the  Social  Circle,  were  glad  to  avail  them- 
selves of  this  specialt}'  of  a  member  of  the  proscribed  sex. 
This  recipe  pla3-ed  such  an  important  part  in  the  antislavery 
movement  (by  the  mone}'  it  earned) ,  that  I  cannot  forbear 
giving  it  here.  When  woman's  work  is  recognized  and  val- 
ued as  it  should  be,  a  new  and  good  recipe  will  be  as  im- 
portant a  discovery  as  a  "  new  Hgure  of  speech  "  or  a  new 
poem. 

Brooks  Cake.  —  One  pound  flour,  one  pound  sugar,  half-pound 
butter,  four  eggs,  one  cup  millc,  one  teaspoonful  soda,  half-teaspoon- 
ful  cream  of  tartar,  half-pound  currants  (in  half  of  it). 

This  makes  two  loaves ;  and,  if  such  faithful  hands  and 
careful  eyes  as  hers  attend  to  its  making,  it  will  be  fit  for 
the  banquet  of  the  gods.  This  devoted  woman  lived  to  see 
the  cause  for  which  she  so  earnestly  labored  as  successful  as 
was  alwa^-s  her  recipe  for  "Brooks  Cake."  She  died  in 
1868.  Wendell  Phillips  pa3-s  a  fine  tribute  to  her  memory 
in  an  article  in  "  The  Autislaverj-  Standard :  "  — 

"  When,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  I  joined  the  antislavery 
movement,  one  of  the  first  places  I  visited  was  Concord.  Mrs. 
Brooks  welcomed  me  to  the  old  town.  She  was  one,  and  a  chief 
one,  of  half  a  dozen  royal-minded  women  who  represented  the 
antislavery  movement  of  the  place.  The  famous  men  who  lived 
there  turned  then  only  a  tolerant  eye  on  the  cause,  standing  them- 
selves at  a  civil  distance.  In  kindly  deference  to  wife  or  friend,  they 
showed  their  faces,  now  and  then,  at  antislavery  meetings.  Still  it 
is  but  justice  to  say  that  it  was  the  '  continual  coming '  of  those 
untiring  women  that  '  won  or  wearied '  the  noted  names  of  Con- 
cord into  sympathy  with  this  great  iiprising  for  justice.  We  call 
others  self-sacrificing  and  devoted ;  but  she  and  her  associates  lived 
for  their  reform  ideas.  Faultless  in  domestic  duties,  making  her 
roof  so  truly  a  home,  still  no  Avork  was  too  hard,  no  duty  too  absorb- 
ing, no  gathering  too  distant,  no  cross  too  heavy,  for  her  courage. 

"  How  far  her  life  sent  its  influence!  I  have  been  stirred  by  elo- 
quence, and  thrilled  by  many  a  brave  act,  behind  which  I  saw  clearly 
that  half-score  of  earnest  women,  the  heart  of  a  famous  circle,  whose 


''WARRINGTON."  75 

brain  has  a  wide  realm.  Tlie  debt  wliicli  Stuart  Mill  is  never  weary 
of  acknowledging  to  liis  noble  wife  is  the  same  that  the  mind  of 
Concord  owes  to  Mrs.  Brooks  and  her  associates." 

Her  liusband,  Hon.  Nathan  Brooks,  whose  claims  as  a 
candidate  for  Congress  Mr.  Robinson  had  lu-ged  in  his  first 
editorials  in  "  The  Yeoman's  Gazette,"  was  a  law3er  in 
Concord,  and  was  ver}'  much  beloved.  He  had  n  habit  of 
canying  a  lighted  candle  to  and  from  his  office  in  the  even- 
ing. After  his  death,  Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn,  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  "  The  Springfield  Republican,"  speaks  thus  elo- 
quently of  his  "  modest  but  conspicuous  worth  :  "  — 

"  He  cliose,  instead  of  public  fame,  the  more  quiet  path  of  civil 
and  social  duty  within  his  own  town  and  county.  He  was  the  adju- 
dicator of  disputes,  the  administrator  of  estates,  the  depositary  of 
trusts,  the  guardian  of  orphans,  the  just  man,  who,  as  Plato  says, 
is  a  perpetual  magistrate.  When  he  walked  the  brief  journey  from 
his  house  to  his  office.  Justice  and  Benevolence  seemed  to  be  patrol- 
ling the  village  street.  The  taper  which  lighted  his  steps  in  the  even- 
ing walk  to  and  fro,  and  which  even  the  wind  respected,  was  as  august 
as  the  flambeau  of  a  consul  in  the  Via  Sacra;  for  in  him  all  the  dignity 
of  Law  seemed  embodied,  with  none  of  her  austerity." 

In  1854,  when  Missouri  attempted  to  monopolize  Kansas, 
arid  force  slaver}'  into  the  newly-acquired  Territor}-,  the  anti- 
slaver}-  people  of  New  England  tried  to  stay  its  inroads  by 
encouraging  emigration  from  the  free  States.  A  New- 
England  Emigrant  Aid  Society  was  formed,  and  under  its 
protection  many  families  left  their  native  States  to  find  a 
new  home  in  that  far  country-.  On  the  19th  of  July,  1854, 
a  compan}'  of  twenty-four  persons  —  the  advance-guard  of 
freedom  —  started  from  Massachusetts,  and  arrived  in  Kan- 
sas the  same  month.  This  compan}-  was  followed  b\'  others 
the  same  3-ear  ;  and  every  Tuesda}',  for  several  weeks  in  the 
early  part  of  the  summer  of  1855,  the '' emigrant-train  " 
passed  through  Concord,  on  the  Fitchburg  Railroad,  filled 
with  men  and  women  inspired  by  as  pure  an  incentive  to 
action  as  were  the  Pilgi-ira  Fathers  when  the}'  set  sail  for 
New  England.     The}-  went  to  plant   freedom    in  the  most 


76  MEMOIR  OF 

beautiful  portion  of  the  countiy,  doomed  by  King  Cotton  as 
a  new  field  in  which  to  perpetuate  the  monster  evil.  Aban- 
doned by  the  government  which  should  have  protected  them, 
these  emigrants  suffered  untold  hardships.  Some  of  them 
were  killed  by  border-ruffians  ;  and  others  died  of  starva- 
tion, caused  by  the  destruction  of  their  crops.  Of  those 
who  returned,  numbers  were  invalids  for  jears  from  the 
sufferings  to  which  they  had  been  exposed.  "Bleeding 
Kansas  "  was  a  name  well  chosen  at  that  time  to  describe 
this  fair  part  of  our  land.  Money  and  clothing  were  sent  to 
them  by  towns  and  individuals,  and  every  effort  was  made 
to  encourage  and  assist  the  emigrants.  Concord  alone  sub- 
scribed more  than  two  thousand  dollars,  and  the  ladies  of 
that  town  met  together  to  sew  for  Kansas  ;  for,  in  spite  of 
difference  of  opinion  outside  the  Church  and  within  it,  there 
was  but  one  opinion  with  all  true  antislaverj'  people  as  to 
the  enormit}'  of  this  attempt  to  force  slavery  upon  the  Kan- 
sas settlers.  Among  these  ladies  were  the  members  of  the 
old  Antislavery  Society,  who  continued  to  work  for  this 
and  other  progressive  causes  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
when  the}'  re-organized  ;  and  the  long-divided  elements  in 
Church  and  State  came  together  as  the  Freedman's  Aid 
Society. 

Mr.  Robinson's  old  schoolmates  and  friends  speak  of  him 
during  these  Concord  years  with  much  tenderness.  He  had 
a  cheerful  word  for  everybody  ;  and  his  bright  sayings  and 
repartees  are  still  remembered,  long  after  the  events  which 
prompted  them  are  forgotten.  He  was  very  fond  of  chil- 
dren, and  of  talking  and  joking  with  them.  One  of  his 
jokes,  made  at  the  expense  of  a  little  son  of  Judge  Hoar,  is 
often  repeated.  He  asked  the  little  boy  how  old  he  was ; 
and,  on  being  told  that  he  was  six  and  a  quarter,  he  said, 
"  You  must  take  care,  and  not  get  crossed;  for,  if  j'ou  do, 
3'ou  will  only  pass  for  five."  Though  his  personal  popu- 
larity was  great,  Mr.  Robinson's  political  opinions  did  not 
find  favor  with  some  of  his  townsmen  ;  and  when  a  vacancy 
occurred  in  the  Social  Circle,  and  his  name  was  proposed  as 


"WARRINGTON:'  77 

a  member,  he  was  tabooed  in  the  chib  which  his  grandfather 
helped  to  found.  He  cared  ver}-  little  about  the  matter, 
however,  attributing  the  slight,  not  to  personal  ill-feeling, 
but  to  opposition  on  political  grounds.  He  might  have 
retorted,  like  the  old  philosopher,  — 

"They    deride    thee,    O    Diogenes!"      Diogenes    made 
answer,  "But  I  am  not  derided." 


k 


78  MEMOIR  OF 


CHAPTER    VI. 

"WAREESrGTON"   LETTERS. 

[1856-1862.] 

*'  The  State  is  like  a  great  and  noble  steed,  wlio  is  tardy  in  his  motions,  and  re- 
quires to  bo  stirred  into  life.  It"  I  may  use  a  ludicrous  figure  of  speech,  I  am  a 
sort  of  gadfly,  given  to  the  State  by  God ;  and  all  day  long,  and  in  all  places,  am 
always  fastening  upon  you,  arousing  and  persuading  and  reproaching  you.  ...  If 
I  had  been  like  other  men,  I  should  not  have  neglected  ray  own  concerns,  or  pa- 
tiently seen  the  neglect  of  them,  all  these  years,  and  have  been  doing  yours,  coming 
to  you  individually  like  a  father  or  an  elder  brother.  Had  I  been  paid,  there  would 
have  been  some  sense  in  that;  but  not  even  the  impudence  of  my  accusers  dares  to 
say  that  I  have  ever  exacted  or  sought  pay  of  any  one.  And  I  have  a  witness  of  the 
truth  of  what  I  say:  my  poverty  is  a  sufhcient  witness." — Plato's  Apoloc/tj  of 
Socrates. 

The  "Warrington"  letters  in  "The  Springfield  Repub- 
lican "  began  in  1856.  Into  them  Mr.  Robinson  carried  on 
his  fight  against  the  Know-Nothings,  and  accused  that  party 
of  theft  (as  will  be  seen  by  the  first  letter)  openly  and  per- 
sistently, —  an  accusation  which  was  never  successfall}'  de- 
nied. The  first  of  these  letters  are  little  more  than  legislative 
reports  ;  but  the  writer  soon  acquired  the  habit  of  scourging 
corrupt  members,  and  laughing  at  dull  ones ;  taking  refuge, 
perhaps,  behind  his  own  theory,  — that  "  dull  men,  and  even 
women,  may  be  attacked  with  impunit}^,  but  none  other." 
In  these  letters  he  found  fall  and  free  expression  for  his 
knowledge  of  politics  ajid  literature,  and  gave  unrestrained 
utterance  to  his  thoughts  concerning  politicians,  reformers, 
mankind  in  general,  and  public  questions.  Bishop  Haven 
says  (in  1876)  of  them, — 

"They  were  strong  in  thought,  curt  in  satire,  and,  though  defi- 
cient in  the  aroma  that  classic  scholarship  sends  forth,  were  not 


"WARRINGTON."  79 

witliout  high  claims  as  Uterary  efforts.  They  were  full  of  personali- 
ties. Men  were  not  hidden  behind  the  arras  of  compliment  or  gen- 
eral remark.  Many  of  his  personalities  provoked  bad  blood ;  or  would 
have  done  so,  but  for  the  seeming  lack  of  all  personality  in  the  writer. 
He  sat  as  judge,  and  weighed  these  men  in  his  golden  balances  as 
impei-turbably  as  Rhadamanthus  decided  the  fates  of  those  who 
appeared  before  his  seat  of  .I'udgment.  Some  of  the  victims  impaled 
on  his  pencil  spear  writhed  fearfully.  Many  were  of  such  littleness, 
that  such  impaling  alone  has  given  them  immortality,  even  as 
Pope's  '  Dunciad  '  has  kept  many  a  dunce  from  oblivion.  He  struck 
the  members  of  the  very  Hovise  he  served, ^  if,  in  his  judgment,  they 
merited  that  fate.  How  timidly  must  they  have  opened  '  The  Repub- 
lican '  to  see  in  what  guise  the  '  Warrington '  who  sat  before  them, 
so  seemingly  cold  and  indifferent,  had  set  them  forth!  Nor  could 
one  smile  over  his  fallen  neighbor;  for  he  knew  not  the  day  nor  the 
hour  when  he  might  not  himself  be  slain.  Said  Mr.  Sumner,  'He  has 
the  best  French  gift  of  "touch  and  go,"  of  which  About  is  the  mas- 
ter.' lie  went  out  into  all  realms, — literary,  political,  reformatory, 
theological.  He  was  as  equally  self-assured  in  reviewing  theology  as 
politics,  literature  as  reform.  He  was,  therefore,  an  unsafe,  but  never 
an  uninteresting,  critic.  That  he  was  faithful  in  much-needed  plain- 
ness of  speech  is  true.  He  irradiated  the  perishable  columns  of  a 
daily  journal  with  the  ceaseless  flashes  of  his  poignant  wit.  He  shot 
through  them  the  piercing  shafts  of  many  a  lofty  principle.  He  was 
trae  to  himself,  and,  as  'Warrington,'  reproduced  with  startling  ex- 
actness the  very  perfection  of  that  character  of  Thackeray's  imagina- 
tion whom  Thackeray  would  have  rejoiced  to  have  seen  thus  animated 
in  flesh  and  blood,  and  doing  his  part  in  the  columns  of  a  Yankee 
journal." 

Thackeray  was  one  of  Mr.  Robinson's  favorite  authors. 
He  thought  him  as  great  as  Scott  or  Dickens,  and  believed 
that  his  works  would  be  read  more  and  more  ever}'  3'ear,  and 
be  standards  long  after  more  popular  authors  were  forgotten. 
When  a  name  was  talked  of  as  a  signatiu-e  to  "  The  Spring- 
field Republican"  letters  he  was  fresh  from  the  reading  of 
"  Pendennis,"  and  had  enjo3'ed  immensel}' the  character  of 
"Warrington,  that  mental  type  of  all  jovial,  sharp  newspaper 
critics  :  the  name  was  therefore  selected  at  once  as  the  ideal 
nom  de  plume  of  a  newspaper  correspondent.  Perhaps  the 
"stunning"  qualities  of  Thackeray's  Warrington  (in  which 

1  While  clerk  of  the  ^Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives. 


80  MEMOIR  OF 

he  was  tlie  exact  opposite)  attracted  Mr.  Robinson  towards 
this  character  as  much  as  "the  strong  thoughts,  the  curt 
periods,  the  sense,  the  satire,  and  the  scholarship;"  and 
then,  too,  George  Warrington  "wrote  for  his  bread."  The 
letters  soon  became  widel}-  read  and  quoted,  and  "  WaiTing- 
ton's"  opinion  was  cited  on  all  the  questions  of  the  day. 
Man}-  IMassachusetts  people,  particularly  in  the  western  coun- 
ties, were  in  almost  Cimmerian  darkness  on  the  question  of 
slaver}- ;  and  these  letters,  during  the  first  j-ears  of  their 
publication,  were  said  to  have  brought  almost  the  onlj-  ray 
of  light  on  that  subject  into  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

"The  Springfield  Republican  "  did  not  alwaj-s  agree  with 
its  "own"  correspondent;  and  not  infrequenth-  a  column 
would  be  seen  by  the  side  of  the  "  Warrington"  letter,  ex- 
plaining the  divergences  of  opinion.  This  divergence  was 
alwa3-s  frank  and  open,  and  conducted  creditably  to  both 
sides.  If  the  readers  of  "The  Republican"  did  not  agree 
with  his  views,  they  still  read  the  letters,  because  they  could 
not  help  reading  what  "Warrington  "  had  to  sa}-.  A  story 
told  me  b}-  a  friend  who  returned  from  Kansas  in  1858  will 
illustrate  this.  This  gentleman  had  stopped  at  a  little  inn 
in  Lawrence,  and  found  a  fellow-traveller  sitting  in  the  bar- 
room, reading  "  The  Republican."  He  exclaimed,  "Why, 
do  you  take  that  paper?"  —  "Yes,"  replied  the  traveller. 
' '  Confound  him !  I  take  the  paper  so  as  to  know  what  that 
fellow  '  Warrington '  has  to  say.  I  don't  believe  what  he 
writes  half  the  time  ;  but  I  can't  get  along  without  reading 
it ;  "  and  he  showed  my  friend  something  which  had  specialh* 
pleased  him.  The  question  had  been  once  asked  "  Warring- 
ton," "Would  you  interfere  with  slavery  where  it  is?"  — 
"  Wh}-,"  said  he,  "you  would  not  interfere  with  slavery 
where  it  is  not,  would  3-ou?"  His  habit  of  writing  was 
most  simple.  He  never  shut  himself  apart  to  wait  for 
inspiration  or  the  divine  afflatus,  but  laughed  at  all  such 
"nonsense."  He  almost  always  wrote  his  letters  during 
the  evening,  in  the  common  sitting-room,  in  the  presence  of 
his  family,  with  the  children  playing  about,  or  getting  their 


''WARRINGTON."  81 

lessons  for  the  morrow.  The  letter,  when  done,  was  read 
aloud,  commented  upon,  and  criticised.  When  a  particu- 
larl}'  good  thing  was  written,  it  was  read  at  once,  and  the 
humorous  and  satirical  parts  laughed  over  before  the  letter 
was  finislied.  I  have  seen  him  writing  as  fast  as  possible, 
shaking  with  laughter  at  the  same  time.  He  seldom  erased 
a  line,  or  a  word :  for  he  had  the  power  to  assimilate, 
and  keep  packed  in  regular  order,  all  the  material  he  re- 
quired ;  and,  when  he  wanted  it  for  use,  he  had  only  to 
"  draw  the  cork,"  as  he  expressed  it.  His  theory  of  writ- 
ing was,  that  anj'  person  who  can  think  clearl}'  can  write  or 
speak  without  difficult}-,  and  that  practice  makes  the  writer. 
He  disclaimed  the  idea  that  an}'  one  needed  an  especial  genius 
for  writing,  and  said,  ""What  right  have  we  to  demand  that 
every  man  who  writes  a  book  shall  be  a  man  of  genius? 
Geniuses  are  scarce :  though  Emerson's  definition  of  a  poet 
— '  a  man  without  impediment '  —  seems  to  imply  that  all 
men  Q-^Q&^i  stutterers  are  poets;  which  I  don't  see."  In 
letters  of  advice  to  a  3'oung  newspaper-writer  (in  1873)  he 
says,  — 

"  Write  as  you  think.  Begin  at  once  on  your  subject,  pack  your 
head  well  with  reading  and  thoughts,  and  then  writing  will  bo  easy 
enough.  No  one  can  write  well  who  is  not  a  wide  reader.  Could  you 
have  written  those  charming  letters  to  me  if  you  had  not  been  famil- 
iar with  Carlyle,  Do  Quincey,  and  Charles  Lamb  ?  Blessed  be  good 
books!  Tlicy  gradually  and  imperceptibly  inform  the  taste.  Reviews 
and  editorials,  like  conversation  and  newspapers,  keep  the  world 
moving,  and  so  are  of  more  practical  use  than  books ;  but  they  are  not 
books,  and  there's  an  end  of  it.  Do  you  suppose  you  could  write 
such  splendid  letters  to  your  correspondents  if  you  had  only  read 
clieap  novels?  Xot  a  bit  of  it.  By  and  by,  after  you  are  done 
drudging  at  newspaper-work,  you  shall  be  an  author.  You  have 
escaped  immortality,  being  switched  off  the  celestial  railroad  on  to  a 
side-track  leading  to  an  old  coal-yard.  You  shall  be  paid  for  it  some 
day;  if  not  liere,  then  liercafter.  Lutlier  promised  Iiis  dog,  that,  in 
the  resurrection,  he  sliould  have  a  golden  tail.  You  sliall  have  a  liarp 
for  music,  or  a  pencil  for  painting,  or  a  chisel  for  sculpture ;  and  I  will 
be  your  delighted  proof-reader  and  critic,  and  take  tlic  money  for 
your  golden  boolcs.  Seriously,  writing,  to  bright  people,  is  a  mere 
trick  of  the  pen,  and  a  knack  whicli  you  will  fall  into.     On  all  topics 


82  MEMOIR  OF 

you  had  better  reflect  pretty  well.  It  is  not  always  enough  to  discover 
fallacies  on  the  other  side :  one  must  be  careful  to  avoid  them  on  his 
own,  or,  if  he  does  not  wholly  avoid  them,  to  speak  with  caution. 
The  speaker  who  uses  language  for  effect  on  the  people  before  him, 
may  with  safety,  and  even  with  credit,  be  fallacious  where  the  writer 
cannot.  The  newspaper  quietly  and  surely  indoctrinates  the  people ; 
and  in  a  large  daily  nothing  comes  amiss.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
nothing  takes  the  place  of  tact,  and  capacity  of  imparting.  Contro- 
versial talent  is  useful,  especially  in  politics;  but  it  ought  to  be  joined 
with  caution,  and  a  knowledge  of  what  can  be  said,  and  will  be  said, 
in  reply.  I  do  not  (for  one)  believe  in  the  notion,  that  it  is  the  sole 
purpose  of  an  editor,  or  writer  for  the  press,  to  give  the  news  of  the 
day,  and  nothing  else,  and  to  squib  any  thing  and  every  thing.  It 
begets  a  habit  of  trifling  and  persiflage.  It  is  sometimes  hard  to 
know  what  the  truth  is ;  but  there  is  generally  a  right  and  a  wrong 
side,  and  to  write  merely  'to  fill  up  the  time'  is  as  bad  as  'praying 
to  fill  tip  the  time.'  Doubtless  you  may  feel  called  upon,  or  even 
obliged,  to  stray  somewhat  from  the  ideal;  but  that  you  wiU  ever  write 
what  you  don't  believe  I  cannot  suppose.  I  never  do  it;  though  I 
frequently  have  occasion  to  change  my  mind,  and  see,  in  looking 
backward,  my  mistakes,  mostly  as  to  estimates  of  character.  He  who 
has  a  reform  on  his  hands  must  not  shrink  from  personalities." 

In  1857  Mr.  Robinson  commenced  as  correspondent  of 
"  The  New-York  Tribune  ;  "  and  he  wrote  weekly  letters  and 
articles  for  that  paper  during  that  and  the  following  years 
until  18G1,  and  at  intervals  thereafter  until  1869.  There 
are  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  letters  and  articles, 
containing  a  complete  political  history  of  Massachusetts, 
from  which  selections  might  be  made  that  would  be  invalua- 
ble for  political  reference.  In  them  the  prominent  political 
events  of  those  j-ears  are  recorded,  and  the  name  of  no  man 
who  took  an  important  part  is  omitted.  Thej'  are  full  of 
brief  biographies  of  the  men  of  the  time,  and  contain  some 
of  the  best  of  "Warrington's"  writings.  Selections  from 
them  will  be  found  among  the  "  Warrington "  letters. 
These  "Tribune"  letters  were  signed  "Gilbert."  The 
editorials  had  no  signature,  and  no  doubt  were  thought  to  be 
Mr.  Greeley's  ;  for  it  used  to  be  said  that  the  subscribers 
of  that  paper  thought  Mr.  Greeley  wrote  ever}-  thing  in  it. 
In   1857  Mr.   Bowles  of    "The   Springfield    Republican" 


"  WAEEIXG  TOX. ' '  83 

attempted  what  was  called  "The  Traveller  Consolidation" 
b}' a  union  of  the  Boston  "Traveller,"  "Telegraph,"  and 
"Atlas"  newspapers.  "Warrington"  was  engaged  as  a 
writer  for  "The  Traveller"  during  the  few  weeks  of  its 
marriage,  and  he  celebrated  its  divorce  in  a  letter  to  "The 
Eepublicau ' '  of  Sept.  9  :  — 

"  'I  saw  three  clouds  at  morning 
Tinged  with  the  rising  sun ; 
And  in  the  dawn  they  floated  on, 
And  mingled  into  one.' 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  marriage  has  not  been  a  happy  one, 
and  that  a  divorce  has  got  to  ensue.  The  causes,  which  are  numer- 
ous, will  not  all  probably  be  made  public;  but  they  may  be  summed- 
up  in  one  word,  'incompatibility.'  I  believe  the  verdict  will  be  the 
usual  one  in  cases  of  railroad  disasters;  viz.,  'Nobody  to  blame.'  As 
a  newspaper,  '  The  Traveller '  has  been  good ;  equal,  at  least,  to  the 
most  enterprising  of  its  competitors,  '  The  Journal.'  Its  editorial 
articles  have  been  numerous,  generally  well  written  and  readable,  and 
on  subjects  of  popular  interest;  and  its  politics  have  been  of  the 
average  Massachusetts  llopublican  kind.  Politically,  however,  it  had 
a  hard  public  to  satisfy.  There  were,  first,  the  old  readers  of  'The 
Traveller,'  who  were  never  schooled  in  antislavery  politics  or  morals; 
second,  the  subscribers  of  '  The  Atlas,'  who  were  mostly  old  Whigs, 
some  of  them  glad  to  get  into  the  Republican  party,  and  others 
driven  in  by  stress  of  politics;  third,  the  'Telegraph'  and  '  Common- 
wealth '  men,  who  for  half  a  score  of  years  had  been  impressed  by 
such  men  as  Wright,  Carter,  Bird,  (what  a  conjunction  of  names!) 
Baldwin,  Hazewell,  Robinson,  et  id  genus  omne,  with  a  righteous 
horror  of  hunkerism,  especially  Democratic  hunkerism,  particularly 
Whig  hunkerism,  and  most  particularly  and  especially  Know-Xothing 
hunkerism,  or  Gardnerism;  and,  fourth,  the  new  readers,  the  peoi)le 
at  large,  who  might  be  attracted  by  the  frcsliness  of  news,  and  inde- 
pendence of  discussion,  which  the  paper  might  furnisli.  Such  a  public 
who  could  satisfy?  Mr.  Bowles  brought  to  his  task  great  experience, 
admirable  editorial  tact,  good  maimers,  and  good  judgment.  But,  on 
the  one  hand,  he  hated  the  hunkers,  and  was  suspected  of  having  no 
partiality  for  the  great  idol  of  hunkerism.  Gov.  Gardner:  on  the 
other  hand,  he  had  too  little  faith  in  the  political  ideas  and  machinery 
of  the  radical  Republicans  to  suit  them.  However  free  and  easy 
these  men  may  be  in  their  politics  and  ethics,  they  are  most  intoler- 
ant partisans,  and  impatient  of  any  thing  that  looks  like  leaping  over 
the  bounds  they  have  set  up.     The  opposition  of  'The  Traveller'  to 


84  MEMOIR  OF 

the  Kansas  api^ropriation  was  the  first  and  early  offence  given  to  these 
men.  Old  stagers  in  antislavery  let  '  The  Telegraph '  die  because  it 
was  not  so  good  a  newspaper  as  '  The  Journal,'  which  last  year,  they 
were  subscribing  to  very  actively  for  the  purpose  of  encourajing  it  in 
the  antislavery  course  it  seemed  to  be  entering  upon.  Well,  these 
men  were  mad  at  '  The  Traveller '  because  it  opposed  the  Kansas 
resolves,  and  impatient  because  it  was  not  so  strongly  antislavery  as 
'  The  Bee:'  so  they  turned  the  cold  shoulder;  and,  when  money  was 
wanted  to  keep  '  The  Bee '  from  going  headlong  into  tlie  support  of 
Gardnerism,  it  was  raised  by  two  or  three  old  Free-Soilers,  who 
thought,  probably,  they  were  doing  a  great  thing  for  'the  cause.' ^ 
The  whole  story  is  summed  up  in  the  assertion,  which  is  capable  of 
proof,  that  an  antislavery  and  independent  daily  newspaper  of  a  high 
standard  cannot  be  made  to  support  itself  in  Boston. 

"'The  Traveller'  experiment  is  still  a  subject  of  common  talk 
among  politicians  and  newspaper-men.  Some  hard  feeling  exists 
against  Mr.  Bowles,  caused  by  his  coming  down  from  Springfield 
'  like  the  wolf  on  the  fold  '  and  destroying  two  daily  newspapers,  with 
all  the  opportunities  which  they  afforded  for  employment.  If  a  lively, 
enterprising,  and  New-Yorkish  newspaper  had  been  the  permanent 
result,  all  would  have  been  well  enough ;  but  to  have  '  The  Telegraph ' 
and  '  Atlas  '  extinguished,  and  nothing  but  '  The  Traveller '  left,  — 
this  is  rather  too  bad,  I  confess.  But  I  am  not  disposed  to  grumble. 
The  whole  affair,  in  all  its  aspects,  is  rather  laughable.  The  rape  of 
the  newspapers  will  go  into  history  like  '  The  Rape  of  the  Sabine 
Women,'  or  of  the  '  Lock,'  or  that  classical  elopement  sung  by  Mis- 
tress Goose,  when 

"  The  cat  ran  away  with  the  pudding-bag  string." 

Immecliatelj^  after  "  The  Traveller  "  returned  to  itself  ("as 
though  a  rose  should  shut,  and  be  a  bud  again  "),  "  Warring- 
ton "  was  informed  b}'^  the  proper  authorities  of  that  paper 
that  the}^  had  more  writers  than  room  ;  "  and  we  must  there- 
fore ask  3'ou  to  close  j-our  term  of  service  with  us  from 
to-day."  There  was  now  no  consistent  antislaverj^  news- 
paper in  Boston,  and,  consequently,  no  place  for  his  pen. 
The  politics  of  the  State  were  not  his  politics  ;  and  its  lead- 
ers, with  the  exception  of  Charles  Sumner  and  a  few  others, 
were  ruled  by  the  Know-Nothing  (or  American)  part^'.     His 

1  Credulous  antislavery  people  thought  the  Bee  was  the  true 
antislavery  organ,  though  they  could  not  depend  upon  it  from  one  hour 
to  the  next.  —  W.  S.  K.  in  1857. 


i 


"WARRINGTON."  85 

articles,  he  was  told,  would  have  killed  any  daily  in  Boston. 
"Out  of  work"  is  a  sad  thing  for  the  bread-winner  to  say 
to  his  famil}^  when  he  comes  home  at  night ;  and  the  carpenter 
and  the  mason  are  not  the  onl}'  useful  people,  who,  when  out 
of  work,  must  be  continually  looking  for  jobs.  Said  Haw- 
thorne, "In  this  dismal  chamber  fame  was  won;"  and 
in  like  manner  can  the  biographer  of  "Warrington"  show 
out  of  what  gloomy  surroundings  his  life-work  and  fame 
were  wrought.  The  domestic  stages  might  be  thus  de- 
scribed :  "While  in  this  place,  we  starved  ;  here  we  paid  our 
debts  ;  there  we  were  comfortable,"  &c.  It  seems  like  repe- 
tition to  write  of  all  these  trials  and  privations,  now  that  the 
end  is  gained,  and  his  work  done,  and  so  well  done.  But 
I  tell  them  to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  man,  and  to 
show,  if  necessary,  that  self-interest  and  worldliness  were 
never  in  his  mind,  when  the  good  of  others,  and  "  other- 
worldliness,"  were  to  be  considered.  His  regret  at  being  out 
of  work  was  less  for  the  mone}-  he  might  earn,  and  the  com- 
forts it  would  bring  to  his  family,  than  that  he  was  obliged 
to  be  silent  when  he  felt  that  he  ought  to  be  writing.  "  The 
public  need  it,"  he  said:  "  the}-  cannot  afford  that  I  should 
be  silent."  The  late  William  S.  Thayer,  then  of  "  The 
Tribune,"  writing  to  Mr.  Robinson  in  1857,  saj's,  "  AVe 
should  be  glad  to  have  3'ou  continue  3-our  letters.  I  think  it 
not  impossible  something  in  the  editorial  line  may  turn  up 
for  3-our  benefit  in  this  vicinity,  though  I  know  of  nothing  at 
present.  It  is  a  shame  to  Massachusetts  people  that  they 
do  not  do  more  to  support  the  best  editor  they  have." 
During  these  3-ear3  (1857-59),  when  no  newspaper-office  was 
open  to  "Warrington,"  Mr.  H.  L.  Pierce  offered  him  a  seat 
at  a  desk  in  his  office,  where  he  could  sit  when  not  "  look- 
ing for  jobs,"  read  his  papers,  and  do  his  writing.  Both 
he  and  Mr.  Pierce  enjoyed  this  freedom  of  intercourse  thus 
established.  They  were  then  and  ever  after  fast  and  Avarm 
friends,  and  were  associated  together  in  many  a  good  politi- 
cal work.  Mr.  Kobinson  often  expressed  his  gratitude  for 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Pierce,  who  thought  the  favor  all  on 


86  MEMOIR  OF 

his  side  in  the  satisfaction  at  the  opportunity  thus  given 
him  for  cultivating  "Warrington's"  acquaintance;  saj-ing 
that  he  was  "more  than  repaid  for  any  favor  he  might 
have  conferred,  by  the  juice  he  expressed  out  of  '  Warring- 
ton.' " 

Not  being  able  to  use  his  pen  in  Boston  so  much  as  he 
desired,  Mr.  Robinson  tried  other  places.  In  answer  to  a 
letter  to  a  New- York  paper,  asking  for  work,  he  received  this 
reply  from  John  Russell  Young:  "I  don't  think  j'ou  can 
write  au}'  thing  that  we  will  want  to  print."  He,  however, 
got  a  chance  to  write  for  a  California  paper  (for  which 
he  did  not  receive  his  pa}'),  and  also  (in  1857)  letters  to 
"  The  Worcester  Transcript,"  signed  "  Bo^'thorn  ;  "  and,  in 
the  same  and  later  j-ears,  he  wrote  short  political  articles  for 
"  The  Congregationalist  "  and  "  Zion's  Herald,"  which  were 
extensively  copied  into  other  newspapers  as  "Opinions  of 
the  Religions  Press."  He  furnished  articles  for  "  Apple- 
ton's  C3'clop8edia  "  (then  being  published),  and  revised  the 
writings  (usuall}^  a  labor  of  love)  of  book-makers  whose 
early  education  had  not  been  acquired  in  the  Concord  school- 
house.  He  selected  the  reading-matter  for  an  almanac  pub- 
lished by  one  A^'er,  who  demurred  at  the  price  asked  for  the 
work,  and  refused  to  paj^  it.^  He  also  reported  legislative 
proceedings  for  "  The  Advertiser  "  in  1858  and  1859.  For 
all  this  writing  the  pay  was  extremely  small,  as  it  was, 
also,  for  the  "Warrington"  and  "Tribune"  letters,  as  I 
shall  explain  in  future  pages. 

"The  Straight  Republican,"  a  campaign  paper,  was  pub- 
lished during  the  campaign  of  1857  b}'  Henry  L.  Pierce, 
Estes  Howe,  F.  W.  Bird,  and  others,  Saj-s  "  Warrington," 
"The  Republicans  who  oppose  Mr.  Banks  have  issued  a 
small  sheet  called  '  The  Straight  Republican ;  '  and  they 
W'ill   soon   be  able   to   ascertain  —  what   I   believe   they  do 

1  He  afterwards  ran  foi"  Congress,  and  "Warrington"  wrote  a  sketch 
of  him.  This  was  one  of  tlie  things  he  shook  with  hingliter  over  wliile 
writing.  When  done,  and  he  had  read  it  aloud,  he  said,  "At  last  I  Iiave 
got  my  pay  of  Jiui  Ayer." 


"WARRINGTON."  87 

not  5'et  pretend  to  know  —  the  actual  strength  of  their 
movement.  The}'  profess  merely  to  desire  to  make  a  pro- 
test against  the  tendency  of  Hepublicanism  towards  Know- 
Nothingism."  "  The  Straight  Republican"  was  edited  by 
""Warrington,"  and  sent  "  free  gratis  for  nothing  "  all  over 
the  State.       One   Republican   to  whom  the  paper  was  sent 

returned   it,  yellow  wrapper   and   all,  with    "Too    d d 

straight"  written  u[)on  it  in  bold  letters.  "The  Fate  of 
the  Straight  Republican  Party"  will  be  found  among  the 
selections. 

Mr.  Robinson  had  moved  from  Concord  to  IMalden  in  the 
fall  of  1857  ;  and  in  1859  his  fourth  and  last  child  was  born, 
— his  namesake,  Warrington.  His  first  boy,  named  AVilliam, 
also  for  his  father,  died  this  year,  at  the  age  of  fire  ^-ears. 
Mr.  Robinson  was  very  fond  of  his  children,  and  very  indul- 
gent to  them  ;  and  the  loss  of  this  child  was  keenly  felt.  He 
had  always  joined  in  their  games  and  pla3-s,  and  been  a 
child  with  them  ;  bat  this  loss  made  a  great  change  in  him, 
for  then  he  first  knew  grief,  and  felt  its  heaviness  upon  him. 
He  had  not  then  come  to  believe  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  but  thought,  as  Emerson  expressed  it  a  few  j'cars  later, 
that  "  the  best  pi'oof  of  our  immortality  is  the  desire  for  it." 
A  better  proof  came  to  the  bereaved  father  later  in  life,  when 
an  inner  growth  revealed  to  liim  —  what  dogmas  and  creeds 
had  failed  to  do  —  the  certainty  of  another  chance,  a  better 
life.  But  at  this  time  the  dead  wall  of  uncertainty  rose 
blank  before  him,  and  there  was  no  way  out.  "Where  is 
he?  "  he  asked  :  "  what  has  become  of  him?  " 

"  My  truant  wise  and  sweet, 
Oh!  wliitlicr  tend  thy  feet?" 

Days  were  spent  in  vain  speculation  and  questionings. 
Friends  came  and  went,  and  left  their  sln-eds  of  belief.  Said 
Catholic  Annie,  "  He  is  safe:  children  do  not  sin  till  after 
the}'  are  seven  years  old."  "Just  read}'  for  the  kingdom," 
said  one.  And  the  minister  read,  "  I  shall  go  to  him  ;  but  he 
shall  not  return  to  me:"  but  there  was  no  comfort  in  it. 


88  MEMOIR  OF 

"  Wliere  is  the  creed,"  said  he,  "  that  can  assure  me  where 
the  boy  is  that  but  j-esterday  was  here,  and  ours?  In  another 
world  ?  What  is  that  other  world  ?  It  seems  to  me  as  if  I 
had  lived  once  before ;  and  I  hope  I  shall  again.  Perhaps 
people  live  on  and  on,  in  different  shapes,  in  different  ages. 
I  may  yet  be  a  prince,  or  a  philosopher,  or  a  starving  Irish- 
man. I  have  a  firmer  faith  that  I  have  lived  than  that  I 
shall  live  again  ;  but  I  do  not  know  why  not  the  latter. 
Wordsworth  expresses  well  the  feeling  of  a  previous  life : 
'Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting.'  "  And  at 
another  time  he  said,  "  AVhat  right  have  we  to  complain  that 
we  cannot  keep  the  child  to  be  ours,  to  be  proud  of,  as  other 
parents  are,  and  to  grow  up  to  do  us  honor?  It  would  be 
pure  selfishness  to  wish  it.  Nothing  can  harm  him :  and 
God,  who  brought  him  helpless  into  this  world  of  sin  and 
strife,  will  surely  take  good  care  of  such  little  innocent  souls 
when  they  leave  it ;  and  we  can  trust  him  in  God's  hands. 
For  him  there  will  be  no  disappointments  nor  sufferings  as 
we  suffer  now.  Let  the  other  children  do  as  they  ma^-,  this 
one  will  alwaj's  do  well.  We  shall  alwaj^s  have  a  good  and 
perfect  child.  He  is  the  successful  child.  Happj^  little  hoj ! 
—  lost,  yet  saved."  Mr.  Robinson's  philosophy  and  pa- 
tience under  this  severe  sorrow  illustrated  his  own  thought 
expressed  later  in  one  of  his  writings  :  "  What  is  called  the 
consolation  of  religion  in  time  of  sorrow  is  but  another  name 
for  insensibility.  Infidels  and  philosophers  put  religionists 
to  shame  at  such  times." 

In  April,  1859,  "  Warrington"  was  candidate  for  clerk  of 
the  Commission  on  the  Revision  of  the  Statutes,  and  received 
every  vote.  A  contemporary  says,  "The  unanimous  vote 
for  Mr.  Robinson  is  both  surprising  and  gratifying.  His 
uncompromising  antislavery  principles,  making  him  the  bit- 
ter enemy  of  all  shades  of  Know-Nothingism,  and  the  inde- 
pendent freedom  with  which,  as  a  journalist,  he  has  for  many 
years  discussed  and  denounced  most  of  the  politicians  and 
political  parties  of  the  States,  prove  that  the  office  and  the 
vote  are  not  the  thrift  which  follows  fawning,  but  the  tribute 


''WARRINGTON."  89 

to  capacity  and  honesty."  In  August,  1859,  a  situation 
was  offered  "  Warrington  "  on  tlie  staff*  of  "  The  New-York 
Tribune,"  at  twent3'-five  dollars  a  week.  Mr.  C,  A.  Dana 
and  Mr.  Robert  Carter  (of  "  The  Tribune  ")  urged  him  to 
accept  this  offer.  The  latter  wrote,  "The  great  merit  of 
'  The  Tribune,'  so  far  as  connection  with  it  is  concerned,  is 
its  permanence.  It  has  not  the  Boston  habit  of  bursting 
up  ever}'  six  months."  C.  C.  Ilazewell  and  other  Massa- 
chusetts friends  thought  it  was  a  great  chance  for  him,  and 
urged  him  so  persistenfl}'  to  accept  it,  that  he  accused  them 
of  wanting  to  get  rid  of  them.  To  his  wife,  who  thought 
she  saw  at  last  an  opportunity  for  him  to  live  at  ease,  and 
follow  his  favorite  vocation,  he  said,  "  Don't  hanker  after 
the  loaves  and  fishes."  When  it  was  urged  that  the  name 
of  being  connected  with  "The  New- York  Tribune"  would 
be  of  great  service  to  him,  he  dissented,  saying  that  Massa- 
chusetts was  good  enough  for  him.  To  Mr.  Carter  he  wrote 
(Aug.  5,  1859),— 

"I  fear  that  the  expense  of  removal,  and  of  living  in  New  York, 
tumult,  breakage  of  connection,  general  change  of  condition,  uncer- 
tainty, more  or  less,  of  suiting  you  and  being  suited,  are  such  that  I 
should  not  find  any  advantage  in  moving.  Tliis  year  has  been  a  very 
good  one  for  me,  my  employment  by  the  legislative  committee  paying 
very  well.  But  this  will  soon  be  over;  and,  in  the  uncertainty  whether 
any  more  good  jobs  will  present  themselves,  I  am  not  disjwsed  sum- 
marily to  dismiss  your  kind  and  complimentary  suggestion.  If  I 
could  have  a  few  days  for  inquiry  as  to  cost  of  living,  etc.,  and  for 
some  consultation  with  my  wife  and  my  friends,  I  should  like  it.  It 
is  fair  to  say,  however,  that  the  probabilities  are  that  I  should  decline 
your  proposal,  though  I  acknowledge  it  to  be  liberal ;  and  I  thank  you 
for  it,  not  only  because  it  has  given  me  a  lookout  for  work,  but  be- 
cause it  has  flattered  tlic  self-conceit  of  one  who  supposes  himself 
equal  at  least  to  the  common  run  of  Boston  newspaper-men,  but  is 
kept  out  of  his  employment  here,  in  his  favorite  vocation,  because 
he  holds  opinions  somewhat  fixed." 

Thinking  it  best  not  to  dismiss  such  an  offer  without  due 
consideration,  Mr.  Eobinson  went  to  New  York  to  look 
about  and  see  how  a  poor  man  could  live  there.  While 
tliere,  he  went  into   one   of  those   large   brick  institutions 


90  MEMOIR  OF 

(that  have  now  become  so  eornmou  in  Massachusetts)  where 
his  children  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  school,  if  he  lived  in 
or  near  New  York  ;  and  he  did  not  like  the  looks  of  it,  nor 
the  idea  of  children  being  all  herded  together  in  such  a 
manner.  "•Not  at  all  like  the  Concord  schoolhouse,"  said 
he.  He  thought  there  could  be  no  individuality'  among 
such  children,  but  that  they  would  all  be  turned  out  after 
one  pattern  ;  and  he  much  preferred  a  country-  schoolhouse. 
Mr.  Bowles  of  "  The  Republican  "  had  written  to  him,  urging 
him  to  sta}'  in  Boston,  as  he  would  much  rather  have  his 
letters  written  from  that  city  than  from  New  York.  Mr. 
Robinson  did  not  like  to  give  up  sa}ing  his  sa}-  in  his 
weekly'  "  Warrington  "  letters  ;  and  this,  with  the  expressed 
belief  that  Massachusetts  was  the  best  State  in  which  to  bring 
up  children,  decided  him  to  let  well  enough  alone,  and  stay 
in  his  native  State. 

The  close  of  the  year  1859  was  a  gloomy  time  for  anti- 
slaver}'  people  ;  for  John  Brown  had  fought  his  battle  at  Har- 
per's Ferr}',  with  only  God  on  his  side,  and  lay  condemned  to 
death  in  a  Southern  prison.  Thoreau  said  of  him,  "  He  was 
not  learned  in  grammar,  but  in  the  humanities.  He  would 
have  left  a  Greek  accent  slanting  the  wrong  wa}',  and  righted 
up  a  falling  man."  Now  that  history'  has  given  the  verdict 
in  this  case,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  John  Brown's  was 
the  first  gun  fired  to  right  a  falling  people,  and  that  it  drew 
the  fire  of  the  slaveholders  in  advance  of  the  great  battle  of 
1860.  Emancipation  seemed  farther  off  than  ever  to  the  im- 
patient ones,  and  many  grew  disheartened.  One  friend  said 
to  "Warrington,"  "  What  is  the  use  for  you  to  stand,  with 
a  few  others,  so  opposed  to  all  the  ruling  powers,  sacrificing 
3'our  worldly  advancement,  and  your  chance  for  usefulness  as 
a  writer?  You  are  no  surer  of  30ur  cause  than  30U  were  two 
years  ago."  To  which  he  replied  with  his  favorite  expres- 
sion, "  The  people  are  to  be  trusted.  There  is  another  da}' 
after  to-day.  Have  faith,  have  faith!"  In  a  letter  to  his 
favorite  nephew,  Mr.  Robinson  gives  some  political  advice, 
and  his  first  opinion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  :  — 


"  WARRINGTON:'  91 

"  The  truth  is,  I  have  so  many  letters  to  write  for  pelf,  filthy  lucre, 
to  '  The  Tribune '  and  '  Springfield  Eepublican,'  that  I  am  rather  in- 
disposed towards  correspondence  in  general.  But  I  have  a  sort  of 
feeling  that  to  you,  as  the  son  of  the  brother  I  loved  so  well,  a  little 
more  courtesy  is  due  than  to  many  others.  I  see  you  take  some 
interest  in  politics.  I  am  glad  of  this;  for  it  is  an  intellectual  pur- 
suit (or  may  be  made  so),  and  everybody  ought  to  take  enough 
interest  in  it  to  know  how  to  vote  intelligently.  Then  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  fun  and  recreation  in  it,  which  we  need.  But,  if  I  were  in 
your  place,  I  would  try  to  read  the  newspapers  and  speeches  on  all 
sides,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  myself  to  form  my  own  opinions, 
rather  than  read  them  for  the  sake  of  taking  their  opinions  at  any 
rate.  Partisanship  is  a  good  thing,  and  necessary ;  but  let  it  be  an 
intelligent  partisanship,  and  not  a  stupid  and  blind  one.  This  is  my 
sermon.  Now  as  to  '  old  Abe.'  From  what  I  know  of  him,  I  think 
well  of  him.  He  is  more  of  a  man  than  he  has  the  credit  of  being, 
and  I  think  he  is  as  honest  as  the  average  of  men.  Honesty  is  not  so 
scarce  as  intelligence.  I  think  he  has  enough  of  both  to  carry  on  the 
government  well.  I  was  veiy  much  grieved  over  the  failure  to  nomi- 
nate Mr.  Seward,  and  hovve  no  doubt  it  was  a  political  blunder,  as  well 
as  a  grievous  wrong  to  the  mass  of  the  party.  But  I  was  not  much 
disappointed  in  the  result.     The  convention  did  the  next  best  thing." 

June  10,  18G0,  Mr.  Sumner  made  bis  great  speeeli  on  the 
Barbarism  of  Slavery.  He  was  four  bours  in  delivering 
tbis  speceb  ;  and  it  was  said  of  it,  tbat  it  posted  tbe  books  on 
the  slavery  question  up  to  tbis  time.  Tbe  whole  South  was 
inflamed  by  it,  and  Mr.  Sumner  was  threatened  with  violence. 
''Warrington"  wrote  articles  on  tbe  subject  in  "The  Atlas 
and  Bee  "  (Boston),  for  which  Mr.  Sumner  wrote  his  thanks 
in  the  following  letter  :  — 

Senate  Chamber,  June  10,  ISGO. 

Dear  Mb.  Robinson, — I  was  full  of  gratitude  to  "The  Atlas," 
and  wondering  to  whose  pen  I  was  so  much  indebted,  when  I  received 
your  letter.     Thanks. 

The  cold-xhouldcriHrn  of  the  llopublican  press  shows  how  little  heart 
it  has  for  one,  who,  after  much  suffering,  was  vindicating  freedom  of 
debate  struck  down  in  his  person,  and  also  how  little  of  true  instinct 
it  has  for  the  requirements  of  the  time.  Had  I  spoken  tiunely,  I 
should  have  spoken  unworthily;  nor  should  I  have  done  justice  to 
the  occasion,  to  the  subject,  or  to  myself. 

A  slave-master  shows   himself  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and,  true  to  the 


92  MEMOIR  OF 

instincts  of  liis  class,  falls  into  Billingsgate;  and  this  is  repeated  by 
hunkers.    But  Republicans,  so  called,  are  not  much  better. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

ChAKLES   StTMNEB. 

In  1860  "  The  Boston  Dail}'  Bee "  was  supported  by 
radical  Republicans  as  an  antislaver}'  newspaper.  "The 
Bee"  was  an  old  established  newspaper,  having  been  started 
in  1842  by  a  companj-  of  journe3'men  printers.  It  did  not 
meddle  much  with  politics  until  1849,  when  it  supported  the 
Whig  nomination  for  ma3-or,  John  P.  Bigelow  ;  and  it  became 
a  pretty-  steady  Whig  paper  from  that  time.  When  Know- 
Nothiugism  came  about,  it  rung  the  changes  on  the  Pope, 
that  Pagan  full  of  pride,  and  the  scarlet  woman  of  Bab3ion, 
the  great  red  dragon,  and  so  on ;  most  effectively  mingling 
with  its  antislaverj'  war-cries  loud  objurgations  against  old 
fogyism  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  After 
the  union  was  dissolved  between  "  The  Traveller,"  "  Atlas," 
and  "  Telegraph,"  the  latter  paper,  like  many  divorced 
parties,  went  into  nothingness;  but  "The  Atlas"  formed  a 
sort  of  left-handed  connection  with  "  The  Bee."  This  con- 
tinued till  the  fall  of  1860,  when  some  radical  Republicans 
took  it,  and  tlie  name  of  "  Atlas  "  was  abandoned,  and  that 
of  "  Bee  "  only  retained. 

It  was  short-lived  under  its  new  name  ;  but,  during  that 
time,  "Warrington"  wrote  for  it,  and  crowded  all  the  anti- 
slaver}'  articles  he  could  into  its  columns.  Letters  to  Eli 
Tha3-er  on  "Squatter  Sovereignty,"  written  b}'  "Warring- 
ton," appeared  in  the  Maiden  local  paper.  Mr.  Thayer 
was  a  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  Worcester  District 
during  the  campaign  of  1860  ;  and  these  letters,  it  was  said, 
defeated  him  and  his  theory  of  settling  the  Kansas  question 
b}'  squatter  sovereignt}'. 

In  August,  1860,  John  A.  Andrew  was  nominated  ;  and 
Mr.  Robinson  wrote  of  this  event,  "The  'Straights'  had 
it  all  their  own  waj- ;  not  '  too  damned  straight '  this  time, 
but  a  complete  and  glorious  victory  over  Banks  and  the 
Know-Nothings,  old  Boston  conservatism,  and  every  thing 


' '  WARRING  TON. ' '  93 

bad.  I  always  had  faith  that  we  should  come  uppermost 
finall}'."  In  November,  Pres.  Lincoln  was  elected,  and 
also  John  A.  Andrew,  our  "war  Governor."  In  December, 
South  Carolina  voted  to  secede  from  the  Union  ;  and  ver}' 
soon  other  States  followed  her  example.  At  this  time,  Henry 
Wilson  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

Dec.  1G,  18C0. 

Deab  Eocixson,  —  Some  of  our  friends  here  are  weak;  most  of 
them  are  firm.  Lincoln's  firmness  helps  our  weak  ones  ;  but  we  have 
signs  of  weakness  here  and  at  home.  Out  on  all  cowards !  We  are 
to  have  disunion :  so  all  think  here.  The  Northern  doughfaces  are 
trying  to  so  manage  the  matter  as  to  put  down  the  Eepublicans  by 
making  the  issue  of  letting  the  traitors  come  back  by  coticessions. 
Our  friends  have  a  terrific  contest  before  them.  We  need  all  the  aid 
that  fidelity  to  principle,  firmness,  and  good  sense,  can  give  us.  I  hope 
more  from  the  folly  and  rashness  of  the  secessionists  than  I  do  from 
the  wisdom  and  courage  of  our  friends.  It  may  come  in  a  few  weeks 
to  blood.  If  so,  let  it  come,  be  the  consequences  what  they  may. 
Armed  traitors  are  around  and  about  us ;  but  I  hope  we  shall  do  our 
duty. 

Let  me  hear  often  from  you  about  matters  at  home. 

Yours  truly, 

n.   WiLSOX. 

In  Januar}-,  1861,  the  Personal-liberty  Act  came  before 
a  conimittee  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature.  This  com- 
mittee met  in  a  small  room  in  the  State  House  to  discuss  the 
bill ;  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  report  against  it,  for  it 
had  been  the  policy  of  some  of  the  frightened  "  Union- 
savei's"  in  other  States  to  repeal  this  bill.  Mr.  Robinson, 
Wendell  Phillips,  and  other  antislavery  people,  on  being 
informed  of  this  intention  on  the  part  of  the  committee, 
crowded  into  the  committee-room,  and  nearl}'  filled  it.  Mr. 
Phillips  and  others  made  speeches,  and  demanded  a  public 
hearing,  which  was  granted.  "Warrington"  wrote  the 
memorial  to  the  legislature  on  this  bill,  and  also  the  report 
of  the  chairman  of  the  committee.  Feb.  1,  18G1,  the  first 
number  of  "  The  Tocsin,"  a  campaign  newspaper,  appeared. 
Elizur  Wright,  F.  W.  Bird,  F.  B.  Sanborn,  and  Mr.  Robin- 
son, furnished  articles  for  it.     Its  prospectus  declared  it  to 


94  MEMOIR   OF 

be  "published  hy  an  association  of  Republicans  who  are 
in  earnest,  and  who  will  be  heard;"  and  its  motto  was, 
"  Xo  more  compromise  with  slaver3\"  The  six  numbers 
that  were  published  contained  articles  against  the  repeal  of 
the  Personal-libert}-  Bill,  in  favor  of  radical  antislaverj' 
measures,  and  denouncing  the  Virginia  Peace  Commission. 
Virginia  had  called  upon  all  States  who  wanted  to  adjust  the 
slaver}-  question  to  send  four  commissioners  to  that  State  to 
confer  on  the  subject ;  "■  which  means,"  said  "  Warrington," 
"  to  make  slaA'ery  perpetual,  and  see  what  new  degradation 
can  be  devised  for  the  North  to  swallow,"  There  was  a 
meeting  of  merchants  and  brokers  on  State  Street  in  Febru- 
ary' to  choose  a  committee  of  four  to  instruct  the  legislature 
to  respond  to  this  call.  The  legislature  ver}-  properl}-  took 
no  notice  of  this  interference ;  but  finall}-  an  order  passed 
its  branches,  and  seven  commissioners  were  appointed. 
Many  of  the  leading  Republicans  were  opposed  to  this  com- 
mission, among  them  F.  W.  Bird,  G.  L.  Stearns,  and  Mr. 
Robinson,  who  said,  "It  is  the  duty  of  Massachusetts  to 
stand  firm,  and  shake  hands  politicall}'  with  no  slave- 
holders; "  and  the}-  went  to  the  State  House,  and  tried  to 
talk  a  contrary  spirit  into  the  legislature.  Gov.  Andrew 
was  not  in  favor  of  the  commission  ;  but  (snys  Mr.  Robinson 
in  his  diary)  "he  aftervtards  caved  in,  as  he  did  on  the 
Personal -liberty  Bill."  Such  campaign  papers  as  "The 
Straight  Republican,"  "The  Tocsin,"  and  afterwards  "The 
Reveille,"  and  other  campaign  documents,  did  a  good  work 
in  their  time.  They  were  printed,  and  sown  broadcast  among 
the  people,  by  a  set  of  men  who  thought  it  important  that 
the  sentiments  the}-  advocated  should  be  read.  There  was 
no  political  antislavery  newspaper  in  Boston  except  "  The 
Bee;"  and  the  administration  of  the  new  abolition  Presi- 
dent and  Governor  was  not  heartily  supported  by  the  leading 
editors,  who  almost  universally  advocated  a  timid  polic3\ 
The  hunker  and  doughface  element  was  in  the  ascendant. 
There  Avas  no  pecuniary  profit  to  f\.x\y  one  in  these  publica- 
tions ;  certainly  not  to  the  writers.     The  capital  "Warring- 


"WARRINGTON."  95 

ton"  made  out  of  the  larger  part  of  his  political  writing  of 
this  kind  was  the  same  that  he  had  made  in  "  The  Lowell 
American,"  —  a  name.  Mr.  Robinson  wrote  several  pam- 
phlets in  1861-G2.  The  one  best  known  and  remembered, 
perhaps,  is,  "A  Conspirac3- to  defame  John  A.  Andrew," 
of  which  the  writer  said  (in  187.5), — 

"  This  pamphlet  was  a  savage  attack  on  Mr.  Saltonstall,  in  defence 
of  Gov.  Andrew.  Doubtless  Mr,  Saltonstall  has  forgotten  it.  He 
has  never  thanked  me  for  it;  nor  did  Andrew,  for  that  matter.  It  was 
one  of  my  gratuitous  works,  though  I  believe  the  expense  of  printing 
was  borne  by  others." 

Everj'bod}'  will  remember  how  events  crowded  npon  each 
other  in  18G1.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  obliged  to  go  secretly 
to  Washington  in  Februar}* ;  five  States  had  seceded  ;  and 
the  Southern  Confederacy  had  chosen  Jefferson  Davis  for  its 
President.  On  the  13th  of  April,  Fort  Sumter  surrendered  ; 
and  the  country  was  filled  with  excitement  and  consterna- 
tion. Men  enlisted  at  the  call  of  the  government,  and 
companies  of  soldiers  began  to  be  formed.  Political  diti'er- 
ences  were  forgotten,  and  anti-  and  pro-  slavery"  volunteers 
paraded  the  streets  side  b3'  side  to  the  tune  of 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  a-mouldering  in  the  grave: 
His  soul  is  marching  on."  ^ 

Gov.  Andrew  sent  to  England  for  a  thousand  Enfield  rifles, 
and  tlie  soldiers  soon  went  into  camp.  The  Parrott  gun 
appeared,  and  people  flocked  to  see  this  new  engine  of 
destruction.  One  old  man,  on  seeing  it,  remarked,  "  Them 
missionaries  have  converted  a  heap  of  people."  Cotton  was 
no  longer  king ;  and  the  North,  that  debatable  land,  v,-as 
found  at  last.  Whatever  their  leaders  might  believe,  there 
was  but  one  thought  with  the  mass  of  the  people,  —  to  fight 

1  Tliis  song  was  said  to  liave  originated  at  Fort  "Warren,  and  was 
sung  universally  1)y  tlie  ^lassacbusetts  soldiers.  The  last  hne  cf  the 
refrain  was  thus  sung, — 

"  But  his  soul's  marching  on." 


96  MEMOIR  OF 

for  the  old  flag,  and  save  the  country  from  dismemberment. 
Emancipation  was  an  afterthought,  forced  into  the  conflict 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  times.  The  rich  and  influential 
classes  (v^dth  few  exceptions)  were  for  peace  on  any  terms. 
To  save  the  Union  with  or  without  slaver^'  was  the  central 
tliought  even  of  Massachusetts.  As  soon  as  our  troops 
appeared  at  the  South,  the  slaves  began  to  escape,  and  come 
into  camp,  where  they  were  seized  as  contraband  of  war. 
On  the  alarm  being  given  that  the  Union  soldiers  were 
advancing,  the  secessionists  had  told  their  slaves  to  go  and 
hide  in  the  woods,  else  the  Northern  soldiers  would  kill 
them.  But  they  said,  "We  knew  better.  We  thought  we 
could  run  to  j'ou.  We  have  been  praying  for  you  since 
March."  Southern  traders  and  merchants  repudiated  their 
Northern  debts,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  interchange  of 
products.  Cotton  rose  to  an  enormous  price,  and  the  mill- 
owners  of  Lowell,  Lawrence,  and  Manchester,  began  to  sufler. 
Northern  merchants  would  send  no  more  breadstufis  South. 
A  Cliarleston  trader  sent  to  Philadelphia  for  fifty  barrels  of 
flour;  and  this  answer  was  telegraphed  baclt:  "Eat  your 
cotton." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Bird  Club,  June  7,  1861,  Mr. 
Sumner  said,  "Gen.  Scott  has  complete  command  of  our 
army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men.  He  is  a  tyrant  in  his 
metliods  of  control.  He  lies  on  his  lounge  in  his  room  (for 
he  suSers  from  gout) ,  and  with  a  stick  points  out  the  desired 
places  on  the  maps  with  which  his  wall  is  covered,  and  gives 
his  commands.  Some  one  asked  him  how  he  should  treat 
Jefl"  Davis  when  he  got  him,  and  he  answered  by  significantly 
clinching  his  right  hand."  It  was  said  that  the  rebellion 
could  be  subdued  in  six  weeks.  Jul}'  21  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run  was  fought,  and  the  country  at  last  saw  what  the  war 
really  meant.  "  Warrington  "  said,  "  There  can  be  no  peace 
and  no  compromise  until  the  rebels  are  beaten  in  a  great  and 
decisive  battle,  or  until  they  have  beaten  us  in  a  great 
and  decisive  battle.  The  North  and  the  South,  the  United 
States  and  the  Cotton  Confederacy,  cannot  live  together, 


"WARRINGTON."  97 

whether  under  one  government  or  two,  on  equal  terms.  One 
or  the  other  must  succumb  ;  and  to  every  man  who  talks 
of  peace  or  compromise,  or  our  '  misguided  Southern  breth- 
ren,' we  must  say  with  Hotspur,  — 

'  This  is  no  world 
To  play  with  mammets,  and  to  tilt  with  lips : 
We  must  have  bloody  noses  and  cracked  crowns, 
And  pass  them  current  too,'  "  ^ 

The  doughface  was  everywhere  catering  to  the  South ; 
and  as  Henry  AVilson  said,  while  it  was  death  for  one  of 
our  soldiers  to  steal  a  secession  chicken,  a  Massachusetts 
colonel  was  said  to  have  sent  a  fugitive  back  to  his  owner, 
and  the  papers  did  not  condemn  the  act.  But  recruiting 
went  on  in  spite  of  doughface  secessionists  and  a  divided 
North.  The  secession  element  in  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment is  well  illustrated  by  an  extract  from  "  Warrington  " 
(in  1863)  on  the  "  secesh  joint :  "  — 

"A  curious  instance  of  the  way  the  Navy  Department  blunders  has 
been  related  to  me.  Perhaps  you  remember  the  '  secesh  joint '  in  the 
machinery  of  the  steamship  'Mississippi.'  If  you  do  not,  let  me 
remind  you  that  this  steamer  sailed  one  day  from  Charlestown  Navy 
Yard,  and  had  got  out  a  few  miles,  when  she  found  herself  crippled 
by  the  breaking  of  a  joint  in  the  machinery.  Upon  examination,  it 
was  found  that  the  joint  was  made  of  India-rubber,  carefully  con- 
cealed from  observation.  One  Quinn  was  accused  of  doing  the  mis- 
chief; yet  he  was  allowed  to  leave  the  yard,  and  is  now  in  the  rebel 
navy,  which,  I  venture  to  say,  he  does  not  furnish  with  India-rubber 
joints.  He  was,  in  fact,  guiltless  of  this  offence  to  '  The  Mississippi,' 
There  is  now  on  file  at  the  war  department  a  letter  from  a  most 
respectable  man,  who  declares  that  another  engineer,  an  Englishman 
named  Green,  confessed  to  him  that  he  made  the  '  secesh  joint.'  He 
pretended,  to  be  sure,  that  it  was  an  honest  piece  of  work,  and  the 
right  thing  to  do.  Now,  where  do  you  suppose  this  Green  is  ?  Super- 
intending the  repairs  on  the  steamship  '  Niagara,'  at  the  Charlestown 
Navy  Yard.    It  is  all  right,  of  course,  but  hard  to  understand." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  give  a 
detailed  account  of  the  great   events  of  this  time ;    but,  in 

1  New-York  Tribune. 


98  MEMOIR  OF 

order  to  show  Mr.  Robinson's  part  in  them,  it  is  necessai-y 
for  his  biographer  to  touch  upon  them ;  and,  if  I  seem  too 
minute  in  recalling  all  his  writings  during  these  eventful 
years,  it  is  because  of  the  desire  to  show  where  some  of  the 
"gun-metal"  came  from  that  was  used  in  these  and  other 
stirring  campaigns.^  It  was  not  alone  the  soldier  at  the 
front  Avho  fought  the  battle  of  emancipation. 

In  1861  there  was  not  a  newspaper  in  Boston, "except  "  The 
Bee"  and  "The  Tocsin,"  that  advocated  the  prosecution 
of  the  war  and  the  abolition  of  slavery-.  "Warrington" 
tried  in  vain  to  get  emancipation  articles  into  several  of  the 
leading  Boston  newspapers.  He  wrote  on  steadil}',  how- 
ever, for  "  The  Republican  "  and  "  The  Tribune,"  and  tried 
to  show  the  country  its  duty.  His  leaders  in  "  The  Tribune  " 
advocated  immediate  emancipation  long  before  it  became 
the  polic}'  of  the  administration,  and  urged  that  the  slaves 
should  be  called  to  fight  in  the  war  that  was  reall}'  waged  for 
them  and  their  cause.  He  said,  ""We  don't  deserve  to  beat 
while  we  ignore  the  black  man,  and  the  help  that  two  hundred 
thousand  black  soldiers  can  bring  us."  ^  "The  Tribune," 
though  an  emancipation  paper,  found  man}'  of  his  anti- 
slaver}'  and  war  articles  too  strong  for  its  columns  ;  and  they 
were  not  printed.  July  8,  1861,  the  last  "Bee"  appeared 
with  a  rousing  antislavery  article  (written  by  "  TVarrington  " 
that  morning) ,  and  a  speech  by  Wendell  Phillips ;  and,  to 
use  his  favorite  expression  in  such  experiences,  Mr.  Robin- 
son was  "  on  his  oars  "  again.  For  the  first  time  in  all  his 
newspaper  life,  he  felt  discouraged.  There  was  again  no 
place  for  his  pen  in  Boston  ;  and  he  was  obliged  to  be  silent 
when  he  felt  he  could  sa}-  so  much  to  the  purpose.  He  had 
been  reading  manuscript  and  doing  other  literary  work  for 
"The  Atlantic  Monthly"  in  1860-61 ;  but  about  this  time 
he  lost  this  occupation. 

1  Api^endix  B. 

2  Mr.  Robinson,  •with  other  antislavery  people,  Tvas  afraid  that  the 
South  would  emancipate  first,  before  Pres.  Lincoln  saw  it  to  be  his 
duty.  Who  can  say  what  the  difference  in  the  result  would  have  been, 
if  it  had  seen  the  issu©  first,  and  adopted  this  wise  policy? 


"WARRINGTON."  99 

The  children  were  now  old  enough  to  meet  their  father  at 
night  when  he  came  home  with,  "  Have  you  got  any  thing  to 
do  yet,  papa? "  He  was  for  the  first  time  obliged  to  borrow 
money  to  support  his  family.  Some  of  the  Boston  merchants, 
in  the  fall  of  1861,  manufactured  cloth  army-mittens  for  the 
soldiers,  and  furnished  them,  cut  out  and  ready  to  sew,  to 
the  Soldiers'  Aid  Societies  and  to  individuals.  Thinking 
that,  when  such  articles  as  her  husband  could  write  were  not 
wanted,  it  was  high  time  some  cheaper  talent  was  called 
upon  to  help  support  the  famih',  Mrs.  Robinson  secured 
some  of  these  mittens,  and  made  them  at  seventy-five  cents 
a  dozen.  She  stitched  them  on  the  sewing-machine,  the 
mother-in-law  pressed  them,  and  the  children  turned  them. 
Much  of  the  array  work  was  not  done  as  it  should  have 
been ;  but  the  emplo3'er  pronounced  this  work  better  done 
than  it  need  to  be.  It  may  seem  strange  to  Mr.  Robinson's 
friends  who  know  nothing  of  newspaper  prices  that  his  cir- 
cumstances should  have  been  so  straitened  when  he  was 
writing  weekly  letters  and  articles  in  "The  Republican" 
and  "Tribune,"  many  of  them  two  columns  long.  It  is 
the  duty  of  his  biographer  to  explain  this  matter  ;  and  I  do 
it,  not  in  a  spirit  of  complaint,  but  as  an  excuse  for  his  pov- 
erty'. I  hope,  also,  that  this  explanation  may  be  of  benefit  to 
any  future  "Warrington,"  so  that  he  maybe  better  cared 
for  in  this  regard,  spared  such  pecuniary  struggles,  and 
saved  to  do  his  work  a  little  longer ;  for  it  is  not  eas}'  to 
find  another  like  him.  "The  Tribune"  letters  were  five 
dollars  apiece  in  18G1  ;  the  price  being  afterwards  raised  to 
ten  dollars  a  column.  The  price  paid  for  "The  Springfield 
Republican "  letters  was  two  dollars  apiece  in  1856,  and  in 
1861  four  dollars  a  wecklv  letter,  long  or  short.  In  1865 
seven  dollars,  and  in  1867  (after  "  The  Tribune  "  raised  its 
price)  ten  dollars,  a  letter  was  paid.  Finally  (after  1870) 
twelve  dollars  was  reached,  which  was  the  highest  price  the 
"Warrington"  letters  ever  commanded.  For  much  of  his 
writing,  as  I  have  shown,  he  was  paid  nothing,  gladly-  giv- 
ing it  without  price  as  his  contribution  towards  the  cause  of 


100  MEMOIR  OF 

freedom.  He  had  such  an  humble  estimate  of  his  own 
labors,  that  he  never  complained  of  the  compensation  given 
him.  I  say  "given  him;"  for  he  was  seldom  known  to 
set  a  price  on  his  writings,  and  took  whatever  was  offered 
without  demur.  Let  me  sa_y  here,  that  he  was  alwaj'S  very 
thankful  for  the  opportunity  offered  him  in  "  The  Republi- 
can ' '  to  say  what  he  thought ;  and  this  was  worth  more  to 
him  than  all  else.  It  was  considered  somewhat  wonderful 
that  this  newspaper  should  print  what  he  said,  when  he  spoke 
so  plainl}' ;  but  in  spite  of  his  fierce  radicalism,  and  the  com- 
plaints of  subscribers,  no  attempt  was  made  to  mutilate  or 
alter  his  letters  until  18G2,  when  Mr.  Bowles  was  absent  in 
Europe.  The  gentleman  left  in  charge  of  "  The  Republi- 
can ' '  then  attempted  something  of  the  sort,  which  resulted 
in  a  spicy  correspondence.  From  "Warrington's"  answers 
to  this  gentleman's  letters  I  have  selected  the  following 
extracts :  — 

"  If  it  be  your  object,  as  I  presume  it  is,  to  drive  me  out  of  your 
columns,  you  can  acbieve  it  very  easily,  and  need  not  make  so  many 
words  about  it.  I  am  mindful  of  my  obligations  to  my  absent  friend 
Mr.  Bowles,  and  shall  place  the  responsibility  where  it  belongs.  You 
cannot  place  upon  me  any  such  alternative  as  you  mention  ;  viz.,  that 
I  must  be  subordinate  to  you  (in  the  sense  of  agreeing  not  to  '  neu- 
tralize,' or  attempt  to  neutralize,  the  counsels  of  'The  Republican'), 
or  that  you  must  be  subordinate  to  me.  As  I  have  never  dreamed  of 
making  you  subordinate  to  me,  the  first  horn  of  the  dilemma  is  want- 
ing; and  I  should  not  only  feel  personally  disgraced,  but  sliould  con- 
sider myself  a  traitor  to  my  country  in  her  hour  of  need,  if  I  could 
consent  to  drag  along  in  the  tail  of  '  events,'  floating  like  a  dead  fish 
down  the  current,  instead  of  trying,  man-fashion,  to  create  events, 
and  make  that  public  ojjinion  which  shall  by  and  by,  if  not  too  late, 
drag  Lincoln  up  to  his  duty.  Events!  —  the  protests  of  earnest  men 
against  treason  and  twattle  are  events.  You  advise  me  to  look  over 
my  letters.  I  have  no  time  to  do  so ;  but  I  know,  without  looking,  that 
my  opinions  have  been  proved  sound,  and  my  predictions  have  been 
verified  by  results.  I  venture  to  say,  that  not  in  one  single  particular 
where  I  have  differed  from  '  The  Republican '  have  events  failed  to 
justify  me.  and  to  prove  it  in  the  wrong.  I,  and  such  as  I,  lead  the 
people  along;  and  you  lag  behind,  and  then  take  credit  to  yourself  for 
being  in  harmony  with  the  people  whom  you  have  tardily  followed. 
I  am  obliged  to  you  for  expressing  an  interest  in  my  behalf;  but  it  is 


"WARRINGTON."  101 

not  a  matter  of  choice  with  me :  I  cannot  keep  silence,  unless  I  am 
compelled  to.  I  will  add,  however,  that  your  policy  as  to  me  is  an 
innovation ;  for,  during  the  six  or  seven  years  I  have  written  for  '  The 
Republican,'  I  have  quite  as  often  run  against,  as  in  conformity  with, 
its  doctrines.  I  have  reason  to  believe,  moreover,  that  this  fact  con- 
stitutes the  principal  value  of  my  letters  to  the  paper  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view.  If  I  write,  I  must  write  as  I  think  and  feel  and  '  know.' 
In  matters  of  taste  and  expression  I  will  try  to  improve:  but  I  can- 
not repress  my  conviction  as  to  any  party  in  vogue,  or  any  man  in 
power ;  for  I  am  no  man's  man,  —  not  even  yours,  my  dear  "  — 


102  MEMOIR  OF 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CLEEK  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HOUSE  OP 
REPRESENTATIVES. 

[1862-1870.] 

"  Scriptural  authority  for  my  office.  Palfrey's  '  HLstoi-y  of  New  England '  gives 
an  account  of  Cotton's  draught  of  laws  for  Massachusetts  in  1636.  He  endeavored 
to  find  biblical  authority  for  most  of  its  provisions.  For  instance,  '  Every  court 
shall  have  ...  a  secretaiy  to  enroll  all  the  acts  of  the  court ; '  for  which  the 
authority  is  Jer.  xxxvi.  10 :  '  Then  read  Baruch  in  the  book  the  words  of  Jeremiah 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  in  the  chamber  of  Gemariah,  the  son  of  Shaphan  the 
scribe,  in  the  higher  court.'  "  —  WAKEXNGTOif. 

"When  the  Republican  party  came  into  power,  on  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  a  great  many  men  expected  to  get 
into  office  under  the  new  administration  ;  and  Mr.  Robinson 
was  besieged  by  many  of  these  office-seekers,  who  wished  to 
obtain  his  signature  to  theu'  petitions,  and  his  indorsement 
of  their  claims.  He  was  told  by  his  friends  that  now  was 
the  time  to  look  out  for  himself;  that,  for  the  asking,  he 
could  have  almost  n.ny  office  in  the  gift  of  the  Republican 
party.  •  He,  however,  declined  to  ask  for  any  thing ;  main- 
taining, now  as  altVaj's,  that  he  "  would  hold  no  office  to 
which  he  was  not  elected  by  the  votes  of  the  people."  On 
this  principle,  he  had,  in  several  instances,  refused  proffered 
situations  under  government.  Gov.  Andrew  had  become' 
interested  in  him,  and  was  desirous  of  presenting  his  name  as 
a  candidate  for  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  In 
a  letter  to  Hon.  P.  W.  Chandler,  he  said,  — 

"  I  want  to  interest  you,  so  far  as  may  be,  in  the  matter  of  the 
clerkship  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  I  do  hope  we  shall  have 
a  good,  faithful,  honest,  working  session,  nobody's  private  or  public 


"WARRINGTON."  103 

axes  ground  at  the  expense  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  of  just  and 
unimpeachable  legislation.  One  great  thing  is  to  get  a  true  man  for 
clerk.  There  is  only  one  candidate  who  has  yet,  to  my  knowledge, 
appeared:  that  is  William  S.  Robinson.  He  is  a  thoroughly  honest 
man,  of  large  experience  in  such  work,  and  every  way  capable. 
Knowing  last  spring  that  Mr.  Stowe  was  not  to  be  a  candidate 
again,  I  brought  the  subject  to  his  and  Robinson's  attention,  in  the 
hope  that  we  might,  in  the  coming  year,  have  Mr.  Robinson  in  the 
service,  where  I  am  sure  there  will  be  nothing  done  by  him  unsuita- 
ble or  wrong,  and  no  effort  unexerted  to  do  right  in  his  office." 

Mr.  Robinson  had  lived  to  see  the  party  which  he  had 
labored  and  sacrificed  so  much  to  establish,  at  last  in  power. 
What  did  he  ask  of  it  in  return  for  his  services  ?  or  what  did 
his  friends  ask  for  him?  An  office  to  which  he  must  be 
chosen  annually  to  serve  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
and  worth,  at  the  most,  sixteen  hundred  dollars  a  j'ear,  includ- 
ing an  assistant's  pay.  Writing  of  this  matter  in  1872,  he 
said,  — 

"  In  the  year  18G2,  which  was  the  first  of  my  clerkship,  my  actual 
salary  (I.e.,  exclusive  of  the  pay  of  an  assistant,  paid  by  myself)  was 
only  sixteen  liundred  d(dlars.  Then  for  a  year  or  two,  and  until  the 
work  became  insupportable,  I  did  without  an  assistant,  and  received 
two  thousand  dollars.  Obliged  to  employ  help,  the  legislature  paid 
for  it.  During  the  war,  with  a  great  number  of  others,  we  got 
twenty-four  hundred  dollars,  by  means  of  a  percentage ;  and  at  last, 
under  a  bill  'equalizing'  pay,  they  put  us  down,  without  remon- 
strance, to  twenty-two  hundred  dollars,  but,  before  the  session  was 
over,  discovered  the  comparative  injustice  they  had  done,  and  set  it 
at  twenty-five  hundred  dollars.  Then,  for  two  or  three  years,  came 
gratuities.  One  year,  the  Senate  insisted,  for  a  day  or  two,  in  voting 
its  own  clerk  five  hundred  dollars  extra,  and  in  defeating  the  same 
amount  which  was  moved  for  myself.  The  two  salary  bills  in  one 
year  (one  reducing  the  pay),  making  a  real  increase  from  twenty-four 
hundred  dcdlars  to  twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  were  the  ones  Butler  ^ 
went  round  blathering  about  in  1871  or  1872." 

What  would  such  eminent  servants  of  the  people  as  the 
gentleman  last  named  have  thought  of  a  mere  hcKjatelle  like 
this?  When  remonstrated  with  for  his  modesty  in  being 
satisfied  with  so  small  a  return  for  such  great  services,  he 

1  Ex-Major-Gen.  B.  F.  Butler. 


104  MEMOIR  OF 

replied,  that  he  thought  he  could  do  more  good  in  that  posi- 
tion than  in  any  other.  He  was  elected  clerk  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  the  legislature  of  1862,  as  successor  of 
William  Stowe  of  Springfield,  receiving  ever}'  vote  but  two, 
to  the  surprise  of  his  friends,  who  expected  some  opposition 
from  the  conservative  members.  He  was  full  of  gratitude  to 
those  who  had  worked  so  faithfully  for  him.  Among  these 
friends  were  Henry  L.  Pierce,  Z.  M.  Crane  (who  rode  two 
hundred  miles  to  help  him) ,  Caleb  Waitt  (a  Democrat  from 
his  own  town  of  Maiden),  Thomas  Drew,  and  numberless 
others,  including  members  of  his  "  parish"  from  the  western 
part  of  the  State.^  To  his  wife  he  said,  "  '  The  Springfield 
Republican  '  letters  have  brought  us  a  harvest  at  last."  The 
good  fortune  was  talked  over  at  home  among  the  children. 
Said  one,  "iVbw  I  can  go  to  Boston;"  and  another,  "We 
can  go  to  the  beach  again ; "  while  the  bab}'  lisped  out, 
"Kirk  of  the  House! — he  ain't  Kirk  of  the  House:  he's 
papa."  I  never  saw  him  so  elated.  The  pressure  of  care 
was  at  once  removed :  he  assumed  all  his  old  buoj-anc}'  of 
spirits,  and  was  almost  the  same  as  before  his  little  boy  died. 
In  this  sudden  accession  of  plenty  the  parents  saw  education 
for  the  children,  and  "  a  new  way  to  pay  old  debts."  Will 
it  be  believed  that  the  wife  spent  the  "  wee  sma'  hours  "  in 
making  the  new  clerk's  old  clothes  look  presentable  for  the 
opening  of  the  legislature  ?  He  had  had  good  occasion  for 
some  time  past  to  practise  his  axiom,  that  "  economy-  is  hon- 
esty." He  carried  this  axiom  into  the  management  of  the 
pecuniary  affairs  of  his  oflSce,  whose  expenses,  it  has  been 
said,  were  kept  at  a  remarkabl}'  low  figure,  considering  the 
inflation  of  prices  during  his  term.  He  resisted  the  attempts 
made  to  increase  his  own  salary  or  that  of  other  State-house 
oflScials  on  the  ground  that  the  people  were  taxed  too  much 
to  support  the  government,  and  that  the  salaries  of  such 
oflScers  were  higher  than  the}'  ought  to  be.  In  1872,  of  this 
matter  he  writes,  — 

1  ISIr.  Eobinson  was  fond  of  calling  liis  "  "Warrington  "  letters  his  ser- 
mons, and  their  readers  his  "  parish : "  he  was  always  glad  to  think  ho\r 
much  larger  it  was  than  that  of  most  preachers. 


"WARRINGTON."  105 

"  I  believe  that  Mr.  GifEord  and  I  may  congratulate  ourselves  that 
the  salaries  of  the  Senate  and  House  clerks  have  been  raised  only 
ninety-five  per  cent  in  a  dozen  years  or  more,  while  the  increase  in 
other  State-house  salaries  has  been  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  per 
cent:  and  the  other  expenses  appertaining  to  the  ofiices  which  we 
filled,  and  which  he  now  fills,  are  only  twenty-five  or  thirty  per  cent 
higher;  in  fact,  a  smaller  increase  than  in  any  other  department. 
The  stationery  bills,  I  am  quite  sure,  are  no  larger  now  than  they 
were  a  dozen  years  ago ;  much  less,  indeed,  than  in  1855.  Moses  Kim- 
ball cut  off  the  House  Icnives  some  j^ears  ago,  and  I  found  no  great 
difiiculty  in  keeping  the  item  out  of  the  appropriation  bill  after- 
ward." 

Of  Mr.  Eobinson  as  clerk,  the  speakers  under  whom  he 
served  bear  testimon}-  to  his  "  consummate  official  service." 
In  his  valedictory  of  18G5  Hon.  A.  H.  Bullock  (then 
speaker)  said,  — 

"  I  should  be  insensible  to  my  own  consciousness  and  recollection 
if  I  were  not  especially  to  declare  how  uniformly  he  has  aided  me,  to 
an  extent  that  has  gone  far  to  make  my  duties  almost  easy  of  perform- 
ance. Whoever  shall  preside  in  this  chamber,  I  can  wish  him  no 
better  associate.'' 

Writing  of  this  matter,  Mr.  G.  H.  Monroe  said,  — 

"  Mr.  Robinson  soon  acquitted  himself  of  any  obligation  to  any- 
body by  his  course  in  this  oflSce.  It  was  the  State  really  that  was 
favored.  Xo  legislative  body  ever  had  a  better  clerk.  He  was  author- 
ity for  years  among  the  members ;  and  was  decidedly  the  superior,  in 
knowledge  of  parliamentary  law,  to  any  speaker  he  ever  served  with, 
with,  perhaps,  one  exception." 

His  bright  and  cheerful  wa}-  of  addressing  the  members 
as  thcj'  came  towards  his  desk  is  Avell  remembered.  He 
ahvaj-s  had  a  repartee  ready  ;  was  often  seen  joking  with  the 
speaker  between  his  rulings  ;  and  it  was  suspected  b}'  some 
that  he  made  a  farce  out  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Great  and 
General  Court.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  always  read\'  to 
lend  his  assistance  to  any  member,  give  of  his  knowledge, 
and  point  out  the  best  w^ay  to  solve  difficult  questions  on 
legislative  matters.  It  Avould  be  impossible  to  cite  the 
amount  of  clerical  writing  done  b}'  him  during  the  eleven 
3'ears  of  his  clerkship.     Besides  the  work  belonging  to  his 


106  MEMOIR  OF 

office,  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  bills  and  reports  relating 
to  legislative  action  in  the  great  events  of  those  j-ears  were 
drawn  up  and  prepared  b}-  him.  If  his  hand  could  be  traced, 
it  might  be  found  in  even  more  important  documents. 

In  1862  the  weekly  "Commonwealth"  (now  belonging 
to  Mr.  Slack)  was  started  b}-  the  late  George  L.  Stearns, 
who  paid  largely  for  its  support  during  its  first  3'ear,  and 
used  it  to  advocate  the  re-election  of  Charles  Sumner,  the 
adoption  of  the  emancipation  polic}',  and  the  enlistment  of 
colored  soldiers.  .  M.  D.  Couwaj',  F.  B.  Sanborn,  and 
other  writers,  had  editorial  charge  of  it ;  and  a  radical  anti- 
slaver^'  policy  was  advocated,  without  regard  to  the  supposed 
interests  of  public  men.  In  1863  F.  W.  Bird  and  others 
undertook  to  support  the  paper,  and  did  so  until  it  was  given 
to  Mr.  Slack.  "  Warrington,"  though  not  emplo3'ed  upon 
it  as  a  writer,  contributed  to  its  columns  from  the  time  of  its 
starting,  for  ver}-  little  if  any  compensation,  — glad  enough 
to  get  a  chance  to  sa}'  his  say  again  in  a  Boston  newspaper. 
When  its  managers  were  looking  for  a  suitable  person  to 
take  this  paper  olf  their  hands,  here  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  chance  to  provide  for  a  radical  antislaver}'  editor, 
who  had  nothing  to  do  at  his  favorite  vocation.  Mr.  Robin- 
son, however,  never  presented  his  claims ;  neither  the  posi- 
tion nor  the  paper  was  offered  him :  and  ' '  The  Common- 
wealth "  was  finall}-  given  to  Mr.  Slack.  "Warrington" 
retained  his  place  as  writer,  however,  for  merel}'  a  nominal 
price.  Among  the  articles  marked  in  his  scrap-book  "  Not 
paid  for,"  those  from  "The  Commonwealth"  figure  prettj^ 
largel}'.  Man}'  of  his  friends  thought,  at  the  time,  that  the 
paper  should  have  been  placed  under  his  control,  if  given  to 
anj'bod}' ;  but,  probabh'  on  account  of  his  lack  of  the  so-called 
*' business  facult}-,"  it  was  passed  into  other  hands.  He 
continued  to  furnish  the  fire^  for  "  The  Commonwealth  "  for 
a  period   of  ten   or   twelve   j-ears,   duriug   which   time  the 

1  In  1865  tlie  editor  of  the  Comuionwealth  had  an  offer  to  go  to 
Columbus,  O.,  to  edit  a  paper  there,  on  the  strength  of  some  recon- 
struction articles  in  this  paper  written  by  "  Warrington." 


"WARRINGTON."  107 

"Warrington"  letters  were  copied  weekty  into  that  paper 
from  "The  Springfield  Republican,"  or,  as  he  said  seu- 
tentiously,  "  stolen  without  the  permission  of  the  author." 
For  the  privilege  of  republishing  these  letters,  Mr.  Robinson 
was  never  offered,  and  never  received,  a  cent.  lie  com- 
plained less  of  this,  however,  than  that  his  letters  were 
altered  to  suit  the  needs  of  an  otficeholder's  organ.  He 
expressed  this  himself  in  1872  :  "  My  letters  have  been 
printed  for  several  years  in  '  The  Commonwealth,'  but,  for  a 
long  time  past,  in  such  a  garbled  wa}'  as  to  conve}-  little  or  no 
idea  of  their  original  contents." 

In  1863  Mr.  Robinson  became  secretary  of  the  Republi- 
can State  Committee,  and  held  that  oflSce  until  about  1868. 
During  these  j^ears  he  wrote  the  addresses,  memorials,  and 
(his  part  of)  the  resolutions  which  usuall}'  emanate  from 
that  body.  This  was  then  an  important  office  ;  for  the  times 
demanded  that  the  documents  of  the  State  Committee  should 
ably  set  forth  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  Repuljlican 
leaders.  The  party  in  Massachusetts  had  become  as  pro- 
gressive on  the  antislavery  question  as  even  "  Warrington" 
could  desire  ;  and  these  documents  expounded  most  forciblj^ 
the  doctrines  upon  which  the  part}'  was  established,  and  for 
which  it  labored.  He  remained  secretary  of  this  committee 
so  long  as  the  leaders  of  the  party  were  in  sympathy  with  his 
opinions  :  when  that  was  no  longer  the  case,  he  resigned. 

The  forming  of  colored  regiments  was  among  the  great 
events  of  the  3-ear  1863.  It  was  a  pathetic  sight  to  see 
the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts  (the  first  colored  regiment) 
march  through  the  streets  of  Boston,  bound  for  Newbern, 
N.C.  Three  hundred  of  them,  it  was  said,  were  fugitive 
slaves,  mostl}'  from  the  West.  Thc}'  had  a  cowed  look,  as  if 
used  to  beseeching :  they  did  not  look  among  the  crowd 
with  the  eager,  hungry  gaze  of  the  white  soldier,  as  if  in 
search  of  a  friendly  face.  Poor  fellows  !  many  of  them  had 
never  known  a  friend.  But  here  and  there  a  colored  woman, 
with  proud  and  jojful  look,  walked  b}'  the  side  of  her  soldier. 
The  lieutenant-colonel  of  this  resfiment  said  he  did  not  see 


108  MEMOIR  OF 

that  the  black  soldier  differed  much  from  the  white  one. 
They  found  fault  with  their  rations  ;  were  inclined  to  shirk ; 
some  were  lazj' ;  and  all  wanted  their  pay,  much  after  the 
manner  of  white  soldiers.  History  has  kept  the  record  of 
how  well  they  fought  and  died  for  their  country. 

It  would  seem  that  God  was  ready  for  our  armies  to  be 
victorious,  since  the  "iron-skin  brigade"  had  hardlj' begun 
to  fight  when  victor}-  was  ours.  Grant  advanced ;  Meade 
pursued  Lee  back  into  Virginia  ;  and  the  cry,  "  On  to  Rich- 
mond !  "  uttered  prematurel}'  a  3-ear  or  two  before,  began  to 
sound  in  earnest.  "  One  Meade,"  as  he  was  called,  had 
commanded  only  one  week,  and  Gettysburg  was  fought  and 
won.  "Was  ever  a  reputation  made  so  quickl}^  "  said 
"  Warrington."  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  surrendered, 
and  all  was  no  longer  "  quiet  on  the  Potomac."  The  South 
grew  poorer  as  the  North  became  richer  and  more  prosperous. 
Confederate  scrip  was  given  hy  the  peck  for  a  gold  dollar, 
while  money  was  plenty  at  the  North  with  gold  at  2.25. 
Fortunes  were  made  ever}' day,  and  "shoddy"  began  to  be  a 
significant  word.  The  soldier  sent  home  his  pay  ;  and  fami- 
lies, that,  before  the  war,  had  only  the  bare  necessities  of 
life,  now  revelled  in  luxury.  While  at  the  South  almost 
every  man  and  boy  was  a  conscript,  our  quota  was  filled 
without  a  second  draft,  as  "Warrington"  had  said  could 
easily  be  done ;  and 

"  We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand  more," 

was  sung  in  every  town  and  city  at  the  North.  Many  a 
young  man,  trained  from  his  cradle  in  antislavery  principles, 
enlisted  for  the  sole  purpose  of  "  getting  one  good  lick  at 
slavery."  The  people  were  right  at  last,  and  led  the  domi- 
nant party  along  the  line  of  freedom.  Even  the  conserva- 
tive portion,  who  had  so  long  objected  to  the  needed 
medicine,  were  now  willing,  as  it  was  coarsely  expressed, 
to  "  swallow  the  negi-o."  Pres.  Lincoln's  edict  of  emanci- 
pation  had   been  put    in   force    Jan.    1,    1863;^   and   the 

1  The  edict  of  emancipation  had  been  promulgated  in  September, 


"WARRINGTON."  109 

"peculiar  institution"  was  becoming  a  thing  of  the  past. 
No  fault  was  found  now  with  "Warrington's"  writings. 
He  had  plent}-  of  offers  to  write  for  newspapers ;  and,  as 
events  crowded  upon  each  other,  his  opinion,  said  to  be  of 
more  value  than  fifty  newspapers,  was  eagerl}'  sought  and 
extensively  quoted. 

In  May,  1864,  Gen.  Grant  had  made  the  declaration, 
which  will  go  far  to  save  his  name  from  oblivion,  that  he 
would  "  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer,"  and 
was  in  hot  pursuit  of  Gen.  Lee.  Atlanta  was  taken  in  Sep- 
tember, and  Sheridan  was  marching  towards  victory.  Gold 
went  down,  provisions  cheapened  ;  and  in  Decembei-  Savan- 
nah surrendered,  and  the  "back  of  the  rebellion  was 
broken."  Gen.  McClcllan  had  been  nominated  for  President 
(in  1864)  by  the  "Copperhead"  party,  in  opposition  to 
Abraham  Lincoln.  There  was  great  political  excitement 
over  this  election :  frauds  at  the  ballot-box  {then  a  new 
infamy)  were  anticipated  ;  and,  to  prevent  illegal  voting,  the 
polls  were  guarded  b}'  armed  soldiers  in  New  York,  Chicago, 
and  other  doubtful  cities.  The  intense  excitement  at  this 
time  cannot  be  appreciated  or  described  except  b}-  those  who 
were  witnesses.  Women  and  children  were  as  interested  as 
legal  voters  ;  for  it  was  felt  by  all  that  the  fate  of  the  coun- 
try depended  upon  the  continuation  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  admin- 
istration, and  the  success  of  the  polic}-  of  emancipation. 
When  Mr.  Robinson  returned  from  the  polls  on  election-day, 
he  brought  home  a  McClcllan  and  a  Lincoln  presidential 
ticket ;   and,   calling  his  children  out  into  the  garden,   he 

18f)2.  For  the  ratification-meeting  at  Fanenil  Hall  "Warrington" 
wrote  the  resolutions.     One  of  them  was  as  follows:  — 

"  Resolved,  That  we  rejoice  with  unspeakable  joy  that  the  cause  of  the  country 
is  now  seen  to  bo  the  cause  of  universal  ami  impartial  freedom;  that  liberty  and 
union  are  henceforth  and  forever  made  one  and  inseparable  by  the  glorious  proc- 
lamation of  the  22d  of  September;  that  the  edict  which  gives  freedom  to  three 
millions  of  enslaved  men  strikes,  at  the  same  moment,  a  fatal  blow  at  the  most 
wicked  rebellion  ever  known  in  history.  We  thank  the  President  for  this  great  act, 
which  is  not  less  one  of  statesmanship  and  justice  than  of  the  most  imperative 
military  necessity.    God  bless  Abraham  Lincobi !  " 


110  MEMOIR  OF 

stuck  the  IMcClellan  ticket  on  a  hook,  and  set  fire  to  it,  while 
the  children  gave  three  cheers  for  "old  Abe,"  —  "to  teach 
them,"  he  said,  "  their  political  dut}^  in  their  youth."  An 
anecdote  will  illustrate  how  the  uneducated  voter  is  misled 
b}'  electioneering  buncombe.  A  few  da3-s  after  election,  an 
adopted  fellow-citizen  remarked,  "  I  don't  see  as  things  are 
much  higher  since."  —  "Since  what?  "asked  Mr.  Robin- 
son. "  Why,"  said  he,  "  the}^  told  me,  that,  if  Lincoln  was 
elected  again,  things  would  be  so  high,  that  we  couldn't  get 
anj'  thing  for  our  mone}' :  but  it  ain't  true ;  for  they  ain't 
quite  so  high  as  the}'  ivas."  Mr.  Lincoln  was  re-elected  by 
a  majoritj'  unexpectedly  large,  McClellan  getting  onlj-  twenty 
out  of  the  two  hundred  and  forty  electoral  votes.  Gov. 
Andrew  was  also  re-elected.^ 

Jan.  6,  1865,  Charleston  was  evacuated,  and  the  old  flag 
once  more  floated  over  Fort  Sumter.  "Wilmington  had  been 
captured,  and  Sherman  was  marching  northward.  March 
20,  1865,  the  Rebel  Congress  adjourned  sine  die;  and  in  May 
the  Confederate  President,  Jeff  Davis,  was  taken  prisoner  by 
Lieut.-Col.  Pritchard  of  the  Fourth  Michigan.^    The  Con- 

1  In  liis  inaugural  of  1865,  Gov.  Andrew  made  a  memorable  sugges- 
tion with  regard  to  a  portion  of  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts.  He  said, 
"I  know  of  no  more  useful  object  to  which  the  Commonwealth  can 
lend  its  aid  than  that  of  a  movement  adopted  in  a  practical  way  to 
open  the  door  of  emigi-ation  to  young  women,  who  are  wanted  for 
teachers,  and  for  every  other  appropriate  as  well  as  domestic  employ- 
ment, in  the  remote  West,  but  who  are  leading  anxious  and  aimless 
lives  in  Xew  England."  By  the  "  anxious  and  aimless"  women,  it  was 
supposed  that  the  governor  meant  the  widowed,  single,  or  otherwise 
unrepresented  portion  of  the  female  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth. 
This  advice  was  kindly  offered,  no  doubt;  but  it  was  received  by  those 
for  whom  it  was  intended  as  unasked  advice  is  apt  to  be.  Some  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature,  however,  thought  more  favorably  of  it;  and  it 
was  currently  reported  that  a  member  of  the  Senate  actually  made  the 
following  proposition:  "That  the  'anxious  and  aimless'  should  assemble 
on  the  Common  on  a  certain  day  of  the  year,  and  that  "Western  men 
who  wanted  wives  should  be  invited  to  come  here  and  select  them." 
Legislators  who  make  such  propositions  do  not  foresee  the  time  when 
those  nearest  and  dearest  to  them  may  be  classed  among  the  super- 
fluous or  "  anxious  and  aimless"  women. 

2  Mr.  Greeley,  in  his  American  Conflict,  denies  the  story  that  Jef- 


"WARRINGTON."  Ill 

federates  were  about  to  arm  their  slaves  ;  but  it  was  too  late. 
April  2,  Richmond  fell ;  and  on  the  9th  Lee  surrendered  his 
arm}-,  and  Pres.  Lincoln  went  to  the  front.  On  Feb,  4,  1865, 
Al)raham  Lincoln  had  consummated  the  crowning  act  of  his 
great  and  noble  life  b}'  signing  the  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution, prohibiting  slavery  forever.  Gov.  Andrew  had 
ordered,  that,  as  soon  as  the  telegraph  should  announce  that 
the  President  had  affixed  his  signature,  a  hundred  guns 
should  be  fired  on  Boston  Common,  and  the  church-bells 
should  be  rung. 

The  people  of  the  North  were  filled  with  unspeakable  joy 
and  thankfulness.  Great  illuminations  were  planned ;  but 
the  lamps  of  victory  were  not  to  be  lighted,  and  the  people 
used  the  "oil  of  jo}' for  mourning."  The  good  President 
was  assassinated  April  l-i  (1865),  and  bj' his  tragic  death 
the  jo}-  was  turned  to  sorrow.  But  for  him  —  he  had  gone, 
in  the  annals  of  his  country,  again  and  forever  to  the  front. 
The  war  was  now  over,  and  in  September  our  troops  began 
to  disband.  The  Fift^'-fourth  had  proved  itself  as  good  a 
fighting  regiment  as  if  its  soldiers  had  not  been  colored.  It 
came  home  without  its  brave,  j'oung,  fair-haired  colonel,  who 
was  killed  in  the  vanguard  of  libert}-  for  the  negro  race.^  In 
December  the  regiments  paraded  to  the  tune,  "When 
Johnny  comes  marching  home  again,"  and  delivered  up  their 
tattered  colors,  stained  with  the  blood  of  man}-  a  fallen 
comrade,  and  returned  to  their  homes  and  their  vocations. 
In  many  cases,  their  old  situations  were  open  to  them  ;  and 
they  took  up  the  hammer,  the  trowel,  the  hoe,  or  the  pen, 
as  if  the}'  had  lain  them  down  but  yesterday.  Said  Wendell 
Phillips,  "  There  never  was  such  a  thing  known  before  in 
the  histor}'  of  the  world  as  so  large  an  army  of  soldiers 
disbanding,  and  returning  peacefull}-  to  the  environments  of 
civil  life." 

The  soldiers  had  done  their  part  well ;  and  now  came  the 

ferson  Davis  tried  to  evade  pursuit  by  concealing  his  sex  (and  his 
offenoes)  in  his  wife's  garments. 
1  Robert  G.  Shaw. 


112  MEMOIR  OF 

time  for  statesmen  and  politicians  to  do  theirs.  The  radi- 
cal portion  of  the  Republican  party  had  no  faith  in  Pres. 
Johnson,  over  whose  conduct,  both  in  public  and  private, 
the}'  had  good  reason  to  mourn.  Reconstruction  must  be 
considered,  and  all  its  difficulties  and  dangers  must  be  met. 
At  the  Republican  Convention  at  Worcester,  in  September, 
1865,  Mr.  Robinson  offered  this  resolution,  which  was  the 
keynote  of  the  situation  :  — 

'  "  Eesohed,  That  the  entire  pacification  of  the  country,  and  the 
restoration  of  order,  is  an  object  of  the  first  importance,  and  one 
which  requires  the  exercise  of  the  most  deliberate  and  cautious  -wis- 
dom in  order  that  there  may  be  no  necessity  of  retracing  our  steps ; 
and  we  agree  witli  the  Republicans  of  Pennsylvania,  who,  in  their 
recent  State  Convention,  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  people 
lately  in  revolution  cannot  safely  be  intrusted  with  the  political 
rights  which  they  forfeited  by  their  treason,  until  they  have  proved 
their  acceptance  of  the  results  of  the  war  by  incorporating  them  in 
constitutional  provisions,  and  securing  to  all  men  within  their  borders 
the  inalienable  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness ; 
and  we  call  upon  Congress,  before  whom  must  speedily  come  the 
whole  question  of  re-organizing  the  Southern  communities,  to  see  to 
it  that  the  loyal  people,  white  and  black,  shall  have  the  most  perfect 
guaranties  for  safety  before  any  final  steps  are  taken  toward  the 
re-admission  of  the  revolted  people  of  the  South  to  their  forfeited 
rights." 

This  was  ver}'  extensively  quoted  and  talked  about ;  one 
gentleman  saying  before  a  Methodist  Suuda}-  school,  that 
' '  the  best  gospel  he  had  seen  for  a  long  time  was  the  resolu- 
lution  passed  at  the  "Worcester  Convention." 

Members  of  the  legislature  of  1863,  in  appreciation  of 
his  services  as  clerk,  presented  Mr.  Robinson  with  a  gold 
watch  and  chain.  In  response  to  the  presentation-speech, 
he  said,  — 

"  GENTLEMEJf   OF   THE    HoUSE   OF    RePKESENTATIVES, — I  have 

endeavored,  but  in  vain,  to  collect  my  thoughts  together,  somewhat 
jaded  as  they  have  been  by  the  fatigues  of  the  last  two  days  of  the 
session,  sufficiently  to  make  a  suitable  response  to  this  gift  and  the 
kind  expression  which  accompanies  it.  You  will  not  expect  me  to 
make  a  speech.  I  had,  indeed,  applied  to  one  or  two  young  members 
of  the  bar,  some  of  whom  made  such  eloquent  speeches  on  the  Navy 


"WARRINGTON."  113 

Bill ;  and  they  had  parllj'  promised  to  make  a  speech  for  me :  but  they 
have  failed  to  come.  In  this  emergency,  just  as  the  speaker  was  con- 
chiding  his  eloquent  remarks,  I  luckily  remembered  the  burden  of  a 
German  proverb,  which  I  thought  might  serve  as  an  excuse  for  my- 
self on  this  occasion:  'Speech  is  silvern;  but  silence  is  golden.'  I 
thought  that  perhaps  it  might  have  been  made  by  the  originator  of 
it  for  some  similar  occasion,  and  intended  to  indicate  that  he  who 
receives  silver  pitchers,  goblets,  and  ser\'ices,  should  make  eloquent 
speeches,  and  he  who  receives  watches  should  keep  mum.  I  cannot 
fail,  however,  to  add  my  testimony  to  that  of  the  speaker  as  to  the 
promptness  and  admirable  manner  in  which  the  business  of  the 
session  has  been  conducted,  and  to  express  the  belief  that  the  Blue 
Book,  when  it  appears,  consisting  as  it  does  of  two  sets,  — public  acts 
and  private  axes,  —  will  be  honorable  to  the  legislature.  With  these 
remarks,  sir,  as  complimentary  as  I  am  able  to  make  them,  and  not 
more  complimentary  than  the  members  of  the  legislature  deserve,  — 
to  you,  gentlemen,  individually  and  collectively,  and  to  you,  sir, 
for  the  kind  manner  in  which  you  have  expressed  yourself,  — I  return 
my  sincere  and  heartfelt  thanks." 

The  watch  is  inscribed  as  follows  :  — 

"  Presented  to  "William  S.  Robinson,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, by  the  members,  Boston,  18G3." 

He  was  re-elected  clerk  in  18G4,  ever}'  vote  being  cast  for 
him.  Conscious  of  the  ill  feeling  occasioned  by  his  sharp 
censures  upon  individual  members,  he  was  every  year  sur- 
prised by  the  unanimity  of  the  House  in  his  favor,  and  won- 
dered that  some  movement  was  not  started  to  prevent  his 
re-election.  To  show  b}'  how  slender  a  tenure  his  bread  and 
butter  was  held,  I  may  say  that  everj'  year  the  members  of 
his  family  went  through  the  same  phases  of  mind  when  he 
said,  as  usual,  "  I  ma^-  not  be  re-elected:  I  wonder  I  have 
held  the  office  so  long."  The  children  always  hoped  that 
he  would  keep  it  until  they  were  old  enough  to  go  to  work. 
In  May,  1864,  by  invitation  of  Gov.  Gilmore,  Mr.  Robinson 
went  to  Concord,  N.H.,  to  assist  in  starting  a  daily  news- 
paper, "  The  Concord  Monitor."  Gov.  Gilmore  wrote,  that, 
if  he  had  wanted  a  man  to  be  the  mere  tool  of  a  faction,  he 
should  never  have  applied  to  him.  What  he  wished  was  to 
make   a  thoroughly  "live"  and   independent  paper,  which 


114  MEMOIR  OF 

would  be  an  uncompromising  advocate  of  the  Union  cause 
and  of  the  national  administration.  ]Mr.  Robinson  staid  in 
Concord  a  month,  until  the  paper  was  well  launched,  and 
then  returned  home,  satisfied  that  the  field  of  usefulness  was 
not  so  large  in  New  Hampshire  as  in  Massachusetts.  He 
said,  "  Massachusetts  is  the  place  for  ideas,  and  the  place  to 
which  men  look  for  ideas.  The  men  of  ideas  ought  to  stay 
here,  I  think  ;  and  I,  as  one  of  the  men  who  write,  ought  to 
sta}""  here  also,  and  express  their  ideas." 

In  1865  a  movement  was  begun  b}'  Mr.  Robinson's  friends 
to  use  his  name  as  candidate  for  secretary'  of  state.  Several 
newspapers  urged  his  claims,  and  influential  friends  tried 
to  persuade  him  to  consider  the  subject.  One  of  them 
wrote, — 

"  Give  it  your  best  consideration.  It  is  a  better  place  than  yours. 
It  is  a  comfortable  office,  in  which  you  could  make  others  do  the 
work,  and  yourself  have  more  time  for  literary  work." 

Though  assured  that  he  could  get  the  nomination  Avithout 
any  effort  on  his  part,  he  refused  to  have  his  name  used. 
He  was  disposed,  as  usual,  to  "let  well  enough  alone;" 
and  besides,  he  did  not  wish  to  do  an}'  thing  to  hurt  Mr. 
Warner,  the  incumbent,  who  was  his  personal  friend.  It 
was  jocosel}'  remarked  of  this  matter,  that  it  would  be  safe 
to  offer  a  premium  for  another  man  in  the  State  who  would 
let  such  an  oflace  as  this  go  a-begging.  In  1866  "  The 
New- York  Tribune"  made  "Warrington"  the  offer  of  ten 
dollars  a  column  for  weekly  letters,  and  articles  "to  be 
written  as  often  as  you  please,  and  as  sharp  and  pointed  as 
3'ou  please."  He  was  receiving  but  seven  dollars  apiece 
for  his  "Warrington"  letters,  many  of  them  over  two  col- 
umns long ;  and  being  anxious  to  educate  his  children,  and 
pa}'  for  his  home,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  accept  this 
proposition.  He  accordingly  informed  Mr.  Bowles  of  this 
determination  ;  wrote  what  he  called  his  last  letter  in  ' '  The 
Republican  ;  "  and  on  Jan.  1, 1867,  began  the  "Warrington  " 
letters  in  "  The  Tribune."  Only  a  few  of  these  letters, 
however,  were  published    over    this    nom  de  plume,   Mr. 


i 


"WARBINGTON."  115 

Bowles  having  demurred  to  its  use  in  the  cokimns  of  "  The 
Tribune;"  and  they  were,  therefore,  continued  without  sig- 
nature. Meanwhile,  members  of  his  flock  were  constantly 
inquiring  at  "The  Republican"  office  for  "' Warrington,' 
that  long-Tom  down  in  Boston  Harbor;"  and  its  editor 
expressed  so  many  kind  regrets  at  losing  him,  that  he 
wavered  in  his  determination.  Finally  his  warm  aifection 
for  his  "  parish,"  with  whom  he  felt  so  much  at  home  and 
in  svmpathy,  decided  him  ;  and  he  returned  to  "  The  Repub- 
lican," thinking,  no  doubt,  as  he  afterwards  expressed  it, 
that  he  was  "  like  Andrew  Fairservice  in  this,  —  that,  if  the 
editor  of  '  The  Republican '  did  not  know  when  he  had  a 
good  correspondent,  I  knew  when  I  had  a  good  '  medium ' 
for  communication  with  the  public,  and  a  tolerant,  kind,  and 
gentlemanly  friend . ' ' 

"Warrington"  has  been  criticised  for  opposing  what  he 
called  the  narrow  and  impracticable  polic}^  of  the  prohibi- 
tionists ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  no  one  ever  opposed  "  free 
rum"  more  than  he,  both  in  his  writings  and  in  his  public 
and  private  life.  In  18G7,  in  opposition  to  the  prohibitory^ 
law  and  the  State  constabulary,  a  free  (secret)  rum  organi- 
zation was  started,  called  the  "  P.  L.  L.'s  ;  "  and  this  he  was 
never  weary  of  opposing.  Its  members  threatened  him  with 
loss  of  office,  if  he  continued  the  fight ;  and  a  sachem  in  their 
counsels  called  at  his  house  one  day  to  take  him  to  task  for 
something  he  had  written.  IMr.  Robinson  sat  quietly,  and 
heard  his  visitor  talk,  for  at  least  half  an  hour,  answering 
onl}',  "  I  suppose  so,"  or  "I  don't  know ; "  the  latter  being 
a  favorite  expression  behind  which  he .  hid  his  opinions. 
After  the  "sachem"  left,  the  children,  who  were  present 
during  the  intervicAV,  asked,  "  Wh}'  didn't  you  say  some- 
thing, papa?"  —  "I  don't  know,"  said  he,  smiling  know- 
ingl}'.  The  next  week's  letter  in  "The  Republican" 
contained  his  answer. 

At  the  election  of  clerk  of  the  House  in  18G8,  this  party, 
as  they  had  threatened,  opposed  Mr.  Robinson.  An  old 
Know-Nothing  enemj'  of  his  (a  member  of  this  secret  order) 


116  MEMOIR  OF 

received  eighty-one  votes.  "  The  Republican  "  said  of  the 
result  of  this  contest,  that  it  "was  a  handsome  success  for 
the  indomitable  'Warrington,'  who  had  not  onl^' the  bum- 
mers of  the  P.  L.  L.  faction  down  upon  him,  but  some 
parties  of  high  and  low  degree  in  official  station  who  were 
incensed  at  the  freedom  of  his  strictures."  The  loss  of  his 
office,  forever  threatened,  was  again,  for  a  time,  prevented. 
Free  criticism  of  parties,  individuals,  and  secret  conclaves, 
was  not  then  considered  bj'  a  majority  of  the  members  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  a  sufficient  offence  to  offset  the 
good  and  regular  standing  of  a  member  of  the  Republican 
party. 

The  woman-suffrage  question  was  first  presented  to  the 
legislature  of  Massachusetts  at  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1853  by  a  petition  of  Mrs.  Abby  B.  Alcott^  and  other 
women,  "that  the}'  may  be  allowed  to  vote  on  the  amend- 
ments to  be  made  to  the  Constitution."  This  request  was 
a  novel  one,  and,  so  far  as  known  to  the  committee,  was  the 
first  ever  presented  to  an}^  government  or  other  political 
organization.  The  reasoning  was  able,  and  presented  the 
case  in  an  unanswerable  manner.  It  was  voted  inexpedient 
to  legislate  upon  the  question,  and  the  reasoning^  was  struck 
out  b}'  a  vote  of  108  to  44.  This  was  establishing  an  unfor- 
tunate precedent  with  regard  to  this  question  ;  for  from  that 
time,  whenever  it  has  come  before  our  legislative  bodies,  it 
has  met  the  same  fate,  — to  have  all  just  reasoning  and  argu- 
ment stricken  out,  and  to  be  decided  by  unreasoning  yeas 
and  uaj's.  Mr.  Robinson's  official  connection  with  the 
enfranchisement  of  woman  began  in  18G8,  when,  with  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  F.  W.  Bird  (a  member  of  the  legislature), 

1  Sister  of  Samuel  J.  May,  and  wife  of  A.  Bronson  Alcott  of  Con- 
cord, Mass. 

2  The  committee  to  whom  the  petition  was  referred  made  a  report 
to  the  House,  containing  the  reasons  set  forth  by  the  petitioners,  and  the 
committee's  reasons  for  refusing  it.  These  reasons  were  struck  out  by 
a  vote  of  108  to  44,  and  "report  that  it  is  inexpedient  for  this  con- 
vention to  take  any  action  in  relation  thereto  "  was  all  there  was  left 
of  it. 


"WARRINGTON."  117 

he  caused  a  woman-suffrage  measure  to  be  introduced  into 
the  House  of  Representatives,  when  it  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  the  orders  of  the  da}-,  and  was  defeated,  one-third  of 
the  House  onl}^  voting  in  favor.^ 

He  continued  all  through  his  official  life  to  draw  the  atten- 
tion of  legislators  to  this  important  subject,  and  to  do  all  in 
his  power  to  further  its  interests.  He  wrote  memorials  to  the 
legislature,  reports  of  committees,  and  helped  secure  commit- 
tee-rooms for  hearings.  His  position  as  clerk  of  the  House 
gave  him  great  opportunities  to  help  at  the  right  time  ;  and, 
by  wise  management,  he  brought  the  subject  out  of  the  limbo 
of  contempt  to  which  it  had  hitherto  been  doomed  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people.^  While  "  Warrington  "  remained 
in  office,  the  woman  question  always  had  a  friend  at  court. 
Gov.  Claflin,  in  his  inaugural  of  1871,  was  the  first  person  to 
officially  present  to  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  the 
Commonwealth  the  subject  of  woman's  rights  as  a  citizen. 
"  AVarrington  "  firml}' believed  in  the  political  equality  of  the 
sexes,  and  surprised  his  friends  hy  the  soundness  of  his  argu- 
ments, and  the  depth  of  his  reasoning,  on  the  subject.     Many 

1  This  year  (1877)  the  Woman-suffrage  Bill  was  defeated  by  a  vote 
of  122  to  83,  or  a  two-lifths  vote  of  the  whole  Ilmise.  This  is  a  gain  of 
one-fiftecntli  (or  03%)  in  ten  years;  and,  as  a  two-thirds  vote  is  necessary 
to  get  a  bill  through  the  House,  according  to  this  calculation  the  woman- 
suffrage  cause  will  be  successful  in  about  forty  years.  This  can  be  seen 
by  the  following  proposition:  (ijCo:  2G§%:  :ten  years  —  and  forty  years 
will  be  found  as  the  answer  to  what  maybe  called  this  "Stcbbins" 
problem.  This  would  bo  disheartening,  even  if  the  premises  were 
correct,  and  we  were  sure  that  the  votes  cast  in  its  favor  in  18G8  repre- 
sented tlio  real  opinions  and  convictions  of  that  legislature.  Mr.  Rol)- 
inson,  in  speaking  of  this  matter,  said,  that  probably  not  so  many 
members  would  have  voted  in  favor  of  the  bill  of  18(58  if  they  had 
supposed  there  was  any  danger  of  its  being  carried.  The  hopeful  signs, 
on  the  other  hand,  are,  that  the  rc^jresentatives  of  the  people  show  more 
and  more  decision  of  opinion  on  both  sides  of  the  question.  The  little 
gain  we  have  made  in  ten  years  encourages  us  to  believe  that  we  shall 
go  faster  by  and  by;  the  law  of  momentum  being,  that  any  moving 
body  starting  from  a  A-acutim  (the  heavier  the  better)  increases  in  sx^eed 
as  it  advances  in  its  course. 

2  It  was  moved  by  a  member  of  the  House  of  18G9  that  it  be  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  Graveyards. 


118  MEMOIR  OF 

of  them  who  did  uot  view  the  question  from  his  stand-point 
found  it  hard  to  appreciate  his  conviction  as  to  its  impor- 
tance. In  his  earl}'  writings  he  had  advocated  the  movement, 
and  his  later  writings  are  still  stronger  in  its  favor.  The  last 
public  action  he  took  was  in  a  committ-ee  meeting  convened 
to  devise  new  methods  for  advaiiciug  the  cause  of  woman- 
suffrage.  As  he  lost  faith  in  the  power  of  political  parties 
for  good,  and  as  his  belief  in  their  leaders  became  shaken, 
he  was  more  and  more  convinced  of  woman's  capacity  for 
government  and  self-government,  antl  of  the  need  that  existed 
for  her  co-operation  in  public  atfairs.  "  Xo  other  cause,"  he 
said, ''could  supersede  the  woman  cajse  in  importance,  an}' 
more  than  any  educational  movement  could  supersede  the 
governmental  question."  A  letter  of  political  advice,  written 
bj'  him  in  September,  1875,  reads  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  wish  you  would  tell  Foster  and  Garrison  that  I  think  switching 
off  upon  the  suffrage  for  tax-paying  women  a  sacrifice  of  principle, 
and  a  very  bad  example  to  set  to  other  States.  Don't  let  us  be  led 
away  to  such  sUnulcra  of  reform.  It  is  all  wrong.  I  would  flatly 
vote  against  any  such  proposition.  Even  if  it  could  be  carried,  it 
would  not  forward  the  general  cause ;  for  the  tax-paying  women 
would  rest  there,  or  a  majority  of  them  turn  up  their  noses  at  their 
weaker  sisters,  and  do  as  the  tax-paying  men  of  Rhode  Island  (for 
example)  have  been  doing  ever  since  their  constitution  was  passed, 
—  keep  the  non-tax  paying  men  in  the  background.  The  true  ground 
of  principle  is  equality  of  kights  with  man.  Humanity  is  a  unit : 
one  glory  and  one  shame.  Democracy  means  by,  of,  and  for  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  the  people  are  men  and  women  subject  to  rules,  as  to  age  and 
residence,  to  be  imposed  only  by  general  consent.  This  was  the  origin 
of  the  exclusion  of  women  from  voting, — general  consent,  even  of 
women  themselves,  founded  on  the  supposition  that  only  an  infinitesi- 
mally  small  immber,  if  any,  would  ever  want  it,  and  the  idea  that 
they  would  always  be  in  what  was  called  a  domestic  sphere.  Both 
these  reasons  are  now  gone.  Large  numbers  of  them  now  demand 
suffrage ;  and  their  sphere  of  operations  and  enterprise  is  widened,  so 
that  they  not  only  have  the  right,  which  they  always  had,  but  an 
increasing  fitness,  for  civil  life  and  government,  of  which  the  ballot  is 
but  the  sign  and  symbol.  Don't  let  us  abandon  the  fundamental 
idea  for  any  idea  that  parties  will  help  us  from  fear  or  favor,  or  that 
seeming  gain  to  a  part  is  any  thing  but  a  drawback  to  the  rest.  As 
for  parties,  they  don't  fear  you  or  love  you  yet.    It  is  quite  impossibl« 


« WARRINGTON."  119 

that  either  party  should  ever  grant  presidential  suffrage  alone.  If  it 
passed  an  election,  it  would  be  overtlirown  by  Congress  or  the  courts. 
It  is  just  what  the  court  at  Washington  would  require  for  tipping 
over  the  law.  Don't  vote  for  or  aid  rascals  or  quacks  merely  because 
they  pretend  friendship.  The  cause  has  not  got  rooted  deeply  enougli 
in  the  minds  of  the  voteks  to  make  much  liead-way  or  mind-way  at 
the  polls;  and  there  is  so  little  experience  in  politics  among  the 
women,  and  so  much  dishonesty  among  party  leaders,  that  the  diffi- 
culties are  very  great.  You  ask  if  you  shall  go  for  a  prohibitory  or 
a  labor  candidate,  provided  he  is  for  suffrage.  By  no  means  (if  you 
take  my  advice),  unless  he  has  other  qualifications.  I,  for  several 
years,  have  scratched  all  unfit  candidates ;  and  I  am  too  old,  I  hope, 
to  advise  any  one  to  vote  blindly,  or  to  give  pledges.  I  hold  to  my 
old  opinion,  that,  if  there  is  to  be  any  meddling  with  politics  at  all,  a 
new  party,  even  if  it  does  not  get  a  hundred  votes  (and  it  would  not 
get  more),  would  be  the  best.  Following  the  Republican  party  is  like 
the  sea-voyager  who  lashed  himself  to  the  anchor  to  escai)e." 

In  the  Grant  campaign  of  18G8,  Connecticut  vi-as  consid- 
ered a  ver}-  doubtful  State.  Gen.  Ilawley  of  "  Tlie  Hart- 
ford Courant"  was  detailed  b}'  the  National  Republican 
Committee  as  a  speaker  for  the  campaign,  and  consented  to 
serve  on  condition  that  "  Warrington  "  should  be  secured  to 
take  lii.s  place  on  "  The  Courant."  Mr.  Robinson,  desiring 
to  increase  his  income  for  the  purpose  of  sending  his  chil- 
dren to  a  private  school,  after  much  urging  from  Gen.  Ilaw- 
ley' and  from  a  member  of  the  National  Committee,  liuall}- 
consented  to  go.  He  began  work  on  "  The  Courant"  Sept. 
10,  18C8,  with  a  leader  and  some  squibs  against  the  Copper- 
heads. The  leading  Democratic  paper  in  Hartford  the  next 
day  accused  "  The  Courant  "  of  having  imported  ''  an  editor 
of  the  boiled-down,  disunionist,  old-st3de,  brimstone,  Garri- 
son-and-Phillips  school,  from  somewhere  up  in  Massachu- 
setts, named  Robinson."  He  wrote  home,  "  I  am  here  for 
the  hard  and  earnest  work  of  the  campaign  ;  and  if  I  feel 
well,  and  like  to  slay,  1  shall  try  to  give  the  Copperhead 
papers  enough  to  say."  He  staid  in  Hartford  six  weeks, 
and  wrote,  on  the  average,  a  column  and  a  half  a  day.  For 
this  service  he  received  two  hundred  dollars  (including  ex- 
penses) ;  and,  when  Connecticut  was  saved  to  the  Republi- 
cans,  no  doubt  he  thought  himself  well  paid. 


120  MEMOIR  OF 

Mr.  Robinson  was  not  so  much  elated  over  the  election  of 
Pres.  Grant  as  some  of  his  more  sanguine  political  friends. 
He  thought  it  a  matter  of  expedienc}' ;  that,  if  the  Republi- 
cans had  not  nominated  him,  the  Democrats  would  have  done 
so ;  that  Grant  would  have  accepted  either  nomination,  and 
been  sure  of  election  in  either  case.  Charles  Sumner's 
election  to  the  Senate  for  the  third  time  was  secured  in 
1868  ;  and  on  this  occasion  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Robinson  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

CooLiDGE  House,  Sunday,  Nov.  8, 1868. 
My  deae  Corbespondent,  —  I  am  happy  in  your  personal  sym- 
pathy on  the  recent  election.     The  contrast  between  that  first  election 
to  the  Senate  and  the  present  promise  is  mighty.     Few  things  like  it 

in  the  life  of  a  public  man. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Chajsles  Sumnee. 

On  Mr.  Robinson's  fiftieth  birthday  (Dec.  7,  1868),  his 
friends,  wishing  to  give  him  a  substantial  testimonial  of  their 
appreciation  of  his  services,  held  a  reception,  in  honor  of  the 
occasion,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  F.  "W.  Bird,  in  Boston.  Many 
friends  who  had  been  associated  with  him  in  public  were 
there  to  greet  him  ;  and  congratulatory  letters  were  received 
from  more  than  a  hundred  gentlemen.  A  few  selections 
will  show  their  character.  Mr.  J.  M.  Earle  of  "Worcester 
wrote,  — 

"  I  could  not  deny  myself  the  opportunity,  presented  by  the  proposed 
testimonial  to  W.  S.  Eobinson,  Esq.,  of  throwing  in  my  mite,  as  a 
token  of  appreciation  of  the  ability,  and  steady,  unwavering  fidelity 
and  persistence,  with  which  he  has  advocated  and  defended  sound 
political  principles,  from  the  time  when  he  created  a  reputation  for 
Schouler,  in  "  The  Lowell  Journal,"  down  to  the  present  day.  There 
have  been  times  when  it  required  no  ordinary  share  of  pluck,  nerve, 
and  moral  courage,  to  stand  firm  in  defence  of  the  right ;  and  he  has 
always  proved  true." 

Lieut.-Gov.  John  Nesmith,  an  old  "Lowell  American" 
friend,  wrote,  — 

"  Give  him  my  thanks  for  his  long  and  valuable  services  in  the 
cause  of  right  and  justice,  ever  guiding  public  opinion  the  way  it 
ought  to  go,  rather  than  following  it  in  the  wrong,  —  a  practice  too 
common  \nih.  writers  for  the  press." 


"WARRINGTON."  121 

William  Stowe  of  Springfield  Trrote,  — 

"  We  all  love  Bill,  who  know  him.  But,  as  Bowles  observed,  he 
has  never  abused  many  of  us  up  here,  and,  of  course,  cannot  expect 
a  very  liberal  harvest." 

Bishop  Haven  said,  — 

"He  has  declined  offices  that  would  have  led  to  wealth,  that  he 
might  keep  his  pen  clear  for  the  duty  laid  upon  it.  His  party  has 
grown  rich  and  powerful ;  and  its  ablest  penman  still  occupies  the 
comparatively  humble  position  of  clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  House 
of  Representatives." 

Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn  said  of  this  birthdaj'  affair,  in  "  The 
Springfield  Eepublican,"  — 

"  The  general  feeling  was,  that  an  act  of  justice  had  been  done  to 
one  of  the  men  faithful  to  a  good  cause  through  evil  and  good  report, 
and  who  owed  his  position  and  influence  to  no  accident,  but  to  his  own 
talents,  and  force  of  character.  The  sting  of  his  arrows  was  for- 
gotten ;  and  the  men  whom  he  had  laughed  at,  and  those  he  would 
laugh  at  hereafter,  joined  in  commendation  of  the  Middlesex  Dioge- 
nes, whose  name  in  English  is  'Warrington.'  " 

The  address,  written  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Bird,  was  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

William  S.  Bobinson.  Bear  Friend,  —  We  are  honored  in  being 
selected  to  represent  the  friends  who  are  gathered  here,  and  many 
others  who  are  absent,  on  this  fiftieth  anniversary  of  your  birth- 
day. Believe  us,  no  mere  conventional  observance  prompts  this 
gathering.  The  close  of  half  a  century  of  your  life  presents  a  fit 
occasion,  for  which  we  have  impatiently  waited,  for  bearing  testimony 
to  our  sense  of  public  services,  private  virtues,  and  personal  worth. 
For  twenty  years,  or  upwards,  many  of  us  have  known  you  well. 
No  twenty  years  in  the  history  of  Massachusetts  and  the  coiuitry 
have  been  so  full  of  great  movements,  —  of  movements  especially 
testing  the  courage,  the  sagacity,  the  fidelity,  of  men  so  largely  and 
intimately  connected  with  public  affairs  as  you  have  been.  We  are 
inspired  with  new  faith  in  the  permanency  and  beneficence  of  repub- 
lican institutions,  when  we  remember  that  you  derived  no  aid  for  the 
duties  you  have  done  from  academical  studies  or  professional  training. 
None  the  less  assiduously,  —  all  the  more  vigorously,  perhaps,  —  you 
have  drawn  so  deep  from  the  wells  of  English  undefiled,  that  you 
may  well  congratulate  yourself  that  you  wasted  no  precious  years  in 
the  toilsome  drudgery  which  precedes  even  the  shallowest  draught  at 
the  ancient  classic  fountains. 


122  MEMOIR  OF 

Our  children,  who  will  enter  the  laud  of  promise  after  these  forty 
years  of  painful  wanderings  through  the  wilderness,  can  never  know 
the  price  their  fathers  paid  for  this  freedom.  You  know  how  these 
perilous  times  have  tried  men's  souls.  We  remember,  if  you  do  not, 
how  bravely  you  have  borne  your  iiart  in  this  great  contest.  We 
remember,  — for  most  of  us  were  with  you  "  out  in  the  '48;"  though 
some  of  us  clung  for  a  few  years  longer  to  the  hope  that  salvation 
might  come  to  our  political  Israel  out  of  the  Nazareth  of  the  old 
parties,  just  as  we  were  behind  the  farther-seeing  pioneers  of  previ- 
ous years, —  we  remember  with  what  enthusiam  you  joined  the  de- 
voted band  who  led  a  forlorn  hope  in  Massachusetts  in  protesting 
against  the  subserviency  of  both  the  great  political  parties  to  slavery, 
and  what  yeoman  service  you  rendered  in  the  thre.e-years'  battle 
which  rescued  the  old  Bay  State  from  her  ignoble  alliance  with  the 
slave-power.  You  bearded  the  lion  in  his  very  den ;  for,  if  there  was 
one  spot  in  Massachusetts  where  it  was  more  dangerous  than  in  any 
other  to  follow  independent  convictions,  that  spot  was  Lowell. 
Wealth,  political  preferment,  social  position,  personal  comfort,  —  all 
that,  speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  enters  into  the  aspirations 
of  a  young  man,  —  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  controlling  dynasties: 
but  you  turned  your  back  upon  them  all,  though  sorely  needing  them 
all ;  choosing  rather  to  suffer  afflictions  with  the  votaries  of  equal 
rights,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  popular  favor  for  a  season. 

We  remember,  when  the  tornado  of  18.j4  swept  over  the  State, 
how  bravely  you  breasted  the  storm,  cheerfully  accejiting  banishment 
from  i^ublic  affaii's,  rather  than  to  accede  to  the  denial  of  equal  rights 
before  the  law  on  account  of  race  or  creed;  and,  during  the  six  years 
that  succeeded  that  morbid  paroxysm,  —  the  sequelce  of  the  disease, 
more  obstinate,  and  often  more  fatal,  than  the  disease  itself, — you 
kept  the  faith :  and,  when  the  re-action  came ;  when  the  people  of 
Massachusetts,  with  awakened  traditions,  convictions,  and  instincts, 
placed  Andrew  in  the  chair  of  Winthrop  and  Hancock,  —  we  remem- 
ber how  large  the  share  you  bore  in  shaping  the  policy  which  gave  to 
Massachusetts  the  five  proudest  years  of  her  history. 

HcBc  ollm  meminisse  juvahlt.  These  things,  and  more  than  these, 
we  shall  always  love  to  remember ;  and  it  is  because  we  remember 
them  that  we  are  here  to-night,  in  imperfect  token  of  our  apprecia- 
tion of  your  services  to  the  rights  of  man.  Few  men  in  the  country, 
no  man  in  Massachusetts,  held  so  prominent  a  position  as  a  journal- 
ist as  you  have  held  for  the  last  twenty  years.  During  that  time 
you  have  discussed,  freely  and  fearlessly,  all  the  great  public  ques- 
tions, more  especially  those  of  a  political,  social,  and  moral  character, 
which  have  agitated  the  community;  and  no  man  has  written  so 
little  which  his  friends  would  wish  to  blot,  or  taken  so  few  positions 
from  which  he  has  been  compelled  to  retreat.    Your  criticisms  of 


"WARRINGTON."  123 

measures  and  men,  tliougli  unsparing,  have  been  so  freu  from 
prejudice  or  ill-will,  —  so  manifestly  prompted  by  lionest  convic- 
tion, and  so  almost  uniformly  found,  sooner  or  later,  to  be  in 
accordance  with  the  soundest  public  policy,  —  that  you  have  never 
forfeited  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  any  of  the  subjects  of  your 
criticisms  whose  confidence  and  esteem  are  worth  preserving.  Per- 
haps the  rarest  but  most  valuable  quality  of  a  public  journalist  is  the 
criticism  of  the  public  acts  of  our  political  friends.  It  is  easy  and 
safe  to  attack  our  enemies :  it  is  a  brave  but  most  salutary  test  of 
fidelity  and  courage  to  rebuke  our  friends.  To  this,  the  highest  duty 
of  personal  and  i^olitical  friendship,  you  have  ever  been  faithful;  and 
yet  there  is  no  man  who  more  fully  possesses  the  confidence  and 
regard  of  the  public  men  whom  Massachusetts  delights  to  honor. 
Ever  just  to  the  earnest  and  true,  your  fertile  and  caustic  \>e\\  has 
been  the  terror  of  pretenders,  political,  literary,  or  social,  and  of  the 
false-hearted,  high  or  low,  till  you  have  earned  the  right  to  boast, — 

"  Yes,  I  am  proud,  I  must  be  proud,  to  see 
Men  not  afraid  of  God  afraid  of  me." 

Without  reflections  of  unmixed  sadness,  and  without  forebodings, 
you  enter  the  period  of  lengthening  shadows.  The  struggles  of 
early  years  are  followed  by  the  comfortable  rewards  of  industry  and 
frugality.  Domestic  life,  so  dear  to  your  nature,  offers  to  you  all  that 
is  expressed  by  that  precious  word  "  home."  The  acquisitions  of 
many  years  of  varied  studies,  to  be  enriched  through  the  maturer  life 
upon  which  you  are  just  entering,  will  ripen  into  a  rich  harvest  for 
memory  and  meditation  in  the  tranquil  evening  which  follows  a  tran- 
quil life.  And  noW,  old  and  dear  friend,  in  behalf  of  your  friends 
here,  and  of  many  others  who  have  expressed  regret  that  they  are 
unavoidably  absent,  we  present  to  you  these  inadequate  tokens  of  our 
regard.  .  I  should  be  glad,  if  it  were  proper,  to  give  the  names  of  every 
friend  who  is  represented  in  these  gifts.  Gifts!  —  payments,  rather, 
of  debts  we  all  owe,  which  this  testimonial  feebly  discharges.  I  shall 
be  pardoned,  however,  for  saying  that  this  fund  was  nuule  up  of 
purely  free-will  offerings;  and  every  contribution  was  prompted  by 
sincere  personal  regards  and  cordial  political  sympathies. 

Salve  et  vale!  Hall  and  farewell  !  Farewell  to  the  past,  for- 
getting its  rude  experiences,  and  cherishing  only  its  rich  and  blessed 
memories,  llail  to  the  great  hereafter,  with  its  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities, its  ti'ials  and  triumphs.  We  have  no  misgivings  as  to  your 
future.  The  great  cause  to  which  your  life  has  been  devoted  will 
make  ever  new  demands  \ipon  its  votaries,  and  will  continue  to 
reward  faithful  service  with  its  choicest  benedictions.  We  pray  that 
a  kind  Piovidence  may  add,  for  you  and  yours,  all  the  needed  com- 
forts of  worldly  life ;  that  as  you  draw  nearer  the  shores  of  that  broad 


124  MEMOIR  OF 

ocean  we  must  sail  so  soon,  with  an  unfaltering  trust  in  the  good 
Father  of  all,  you  may  commit  the  keeping  of  your  souls  in  well- 
doing to  him,  as  unto  a  faithful  Creator ;  and 

"  When,  soon  or  late,  you  reach  that  coast, 
O'er  life's  rough  ocean  driven, 
Oh !  may  you  meet,  no  wanderer  lost, 
A  famUy  in  heaven." 

Fbaxcis  W.  Bird. 
Egbert  K.  Potter. 
Edward  W.  Kinsley. 
Boston,  Dec.  7, 1868. 

To  these  complimentar}- opinions  Mr.  Robinson  responded, 
expressing  surprise  at  the  exuberant  generosit}'  of  his  friends, 
and  protesting  that  the  importance  of  his  services,  and  his 
merits  as  a  journalist,  had  been  exaggerated.  lie  said  that 
he  himself  could  have  written  a  more  truthful  account  of 
what  he  had  done  than  the  gentleman  before  him.  As  for 
sacrifice,  he  was  not  conscious  of  having  made  Viny  worth 
mentioning.  He  was  certain  that  in  the  taslv  of  critic,  which 
he  had  performed  for  some  3'ears,  there  were  man}"  compen- 
sations ;  and  that  he  thought,  on  the  whole,  he  had  enjo3-ed 
it  at  least  as  much  as  those  he  had  criticised.  He  supposed, 
however,  that  exaggeration  was  pardonable  among  radicals  ; 
and  he  was  sincerely  grateful  for  the  friendship  which  would 
permit  such  kind  things  to  be  said  of  him.  He  thanked  his 
friends,  present  and  absent,  who  had  shown  their  good-will 
in  the  testimonial,  which  he  was  proud  to  receive.^  He  loved 
his  friends,  and,  like  the  ancient  philosopher,  would  rather 
have  a  real  friend  than  a  horse  or  a  dog,  yea,  than  all  tJie 
gold  of  Darius.  He  wrote,  "Beautiful  is  patriotism  ;  beau- 
tiful is  a  cold-blooded  sense  of  duty :  but,  on  the  whole,  I 
think  that  friendship  —  live,  heart-to-heart  loyalty  —  is  quite 

1  The  gifts  to  "Warrington,"  his  wife,  and  family,  were  a  marble 
mantle-clock,  three  gold  watches,  a  silver  watch,  a  thousand-dollar 
bond,  and  two  hundred  dollars  in  greenbacks.  He  was  very  much 
pleased  at  this  demonstration  on  the  part  of  his  friends;  and,  while  the 
substantial  gifts  were  appreciated,  the  love  and  loyalty  which  prompted 
them  were  more  in  his  thought. 


"WARRINGTON."  125 

as  beautiful,  and  quite  as  useful  iu  this  world,  hard  enough 
at  the  best." 

These  were  "  Warrington's  "  times  of  power.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  sa}-,  that,  during  the  years  of  his  clerkship,  few 
men  could  have  held  high  public  office  in  Massachusetts 
without  his  advice  or  suggestion,  such  was  the  controlling 
influence  of  his  pen.  He  wrote  men  into  place  and  position, 
who,  but  for  him,  would  never  have  been  brought  to  public 
notice.  He  was  called  the  "Warwick"  of  Massachusetts. 
His  was  the  power  behind  the  throne,  —  sometimes  the  veto- 
power, —  ever  exercised  unselfishly  for  the  good  of  the  peo- 
ple. It  is  difficult  to  estimate  his  influence  upon  his  time, 
or  the  force  he  brought  into  the  political  affairs  of  the  day. 

]Manomet  is  a  small  watering-place  on  the  shore  of  Cape- 
Cod  Ba}-,  near  Plymouth,  where,  during  the  clerkship  3'ears, 
Mr.  Robinson  with  his  famil}'  spent  his  summer  vacation. 
He  wrote  of  it  as  follows  :  — 

"  It  is  as  good  a  place  as  can  be  found  for  a  family  refuge,  where  can 
be  enjoyed  fishing,  bathing,  bowling,  clam-bakes,  out-of-door  sports 
and  rambles,  in-door  music,  cards,  and  charades,  with  an  excellent 
chance  to  witness  the  old-fashioned  but  ever  new-fashioned  peren- 
nial practice  of  courting  and  love-making;  where  the  whistle  of  the 
railroad-train  or  the  clink  of  the  canakin  is  not  heard,  but  where 
the  right  to  play  whist  is  as  unstained  as  the  right  to  worship, 
which  the  Pilgrims  found  and  left  in  the  old  town  of  which  Manomet 
forms  a  part.  Daniel  Webster  used  to  sail  thither  from  his  home  in 
Marshfield,  enjoy  the  fishing  in  the  deep  bay,  and  eat  the  famous 
chowders  made  by  Mr.  Holmes,  father  of  the  present  proprietor.  If 
it  had  not  been  for  his  hankering  after  the  presidency,  he  might  have 
been  living  now,  and  fishing  iu  peace  and  quiet  along  these  shores; 
his  ambition  for  that  empty  office  having  not  only  cost  him  his  life, 
but  most  of  bis  early-earned  honors.  Research  failed  to  gather  any 
reminiscences  of  this  great  man.  The  skipper  of  the  place,  however, 
recalled  that  once  Mrs.  Webster  came  there  with  her  famous  husband, 
and,  while  sailing  on  the  bay,  dropped  her  handkerchief  into  the  water, 
causing  him  (the  skipper)  much  trouble  in  tacking  and  veering  to  re- 
claim it." 

Mr.  F.  W.  Bird  introduced  "Warrington"  at  Manomet 
in  the  summer  of  1860  ;  and  he,  with  other  political  friends, 
was  in  the  habit  of  going  there  during  the  following  years. 


126  MEMOIR  OF 

Here  a  great  deal  of  political  planning  was  clone.      Said 
"  Warrington  "  in  18G8,  — 

"  One  of  our  choicest  reminiscences  of  politics  is  the  planning  of 
the  campaign  at  that  place,  with  Aclin  Thayer,  F.  W.  Bird,  and  one  or 
two  other  radicals,  which  resulted  in  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Sumner 
for  senator  by  the  State  Convention  of  1862.  This  was  a  bold  and 
somewhat  risky  jjlot,  for  such  a  thing  had  never  been  ventured  on 
before,  and,  with  Mr.  Dana  and  the  conservatives  generally  in  well- 
known  opposition,  required,  as  we  thought  and  still  think,  no  little 
courage.  J.  Q.  A.  GriflSn  was  thought  a  fit  man  for  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  resolutions;  and  those  who  remember  how  successfully 
he  met  Mr.  Dana's  careful  tactics  and  shrewdly-put  arguments  know 
how  well  the  result  justified  the  selection.  The  success  of  the  scheme 
was  due,  however,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  the  people,  who  were 
represented,  Avere  for  Mr.  Sumner  by  a  large  majority.  The  merit  of 
the  radicals  was  in  knowing  this  fact,  and  determining  that  the  popu- 
lar will  should  not  be  frustrated  by  adverse  management,  and  the 
popular  impulse  defeated  in  the  succeeding  legislature.  This  suc- 
cessful movement  paralyzed  the  '  People's  Movement,'  which  would 
have  become,  under  a  diffei'ent  policy,  much  more  formidable.  It  put 
a  stop  to  the  milk-and-water  system  of  1861,  which  had  already  begun 
to  be  mischievous;  and  gave  tone  to  the  politics  of  the  country  in  no 
inconsiderable  degree." 

The  first  gun  in  the  Butler  campaign  of  1871  was  fired 
from  Manomet. 

His  practice  of  alwa3's  speaking  from  his  own  identity, 
and  calling  people  and  things  b}'  their  right  names,  caused 
"Warrington"  to  be  called  the  most  personal  of  writers. 
Speaking  of  personal  and  impersonal  writing  (in  1859),  he 
said,  — 

"  I  call  this  impersonality  talk  all  *  cant.'  It  is  cant  peculiar  to 
two  or  three  New- York  papers.  I  would  like  to  know  why  the  press 
should  be  impersonal  any  more  than  the  pulpit.  We  should  think  it 
odd,  if,  whenever  we  go  to  church,  a  voice  should  issue  from  behind 
the  pulpit,  and  give  us  doctrine  and  morals,  without  letting  lis  know 
from  whose  lips  it  came.  We  might  be  inveigled  into  listening  to 
Kalloch  while  fondly  believing  that  it  was  Father  Taylor  or  Dr. 
Neale.  He  who  has  a  reform  on  his  hands  must  not  shrink  from 
personalities." 

Mr.  Robinson  never  felt  the  least  ill-will  towards  the  per- 
sons he  criticised,  or  looked  for  any  ill-will  towards  himself 


"WAIiRINGTON."  127 

in  return.  Of  his  man}'  controversies  ^^-ith  public  men,  that 
with  his  friend  Bishop  Haven  will  best  illustrate  this  phase 
of  his  character.  These  two  seldom  agreed  as  to  politieal 
methods  ;  and  the  prohibitor}'  question  was  alwajs  a  bone 
of  contention  (in  "  Zion's  Herald  "  and  "  The  Republican  ") 
between  them.  But  their  hottest  controversy  was  over  the 
unfortunate  Richardson  and  MacFarland  affair.  Dr.  Haven 
took  the  ground  that  Mrs.  MacFarland,  however  ill  treated, 
had  no  right  to  leave  her  husband,  or  marry  another  man. 
He  looked  only  at  the  common  Bible-view  of  the  question, — 
namely,  "  whom  God  hath  joined  ;  "  forgetting  the  occasion 
when  Jesus  said  to  the  woman  who  had  had  five  husbands, 
"  Thou  sayest  truly,  the  man  thou  livest  with  now  is  not  thy 
husband."  "  Warrington  "  defended  Mrs.  MacFarland  on 
the  latter  ground  ;  arguing  from  the  patent  fact,  that  man, 
and  not  God,  had  joined  MacFarland  and  his  wife  together. 
Haven  accused  "  AVarrington  "  of  being  a  '^  free-lover,"  and 
of  not  keeping  the  seventh  commandment ;  to  which  he  re- 
torted by  calling  the  bishop  an  "assassin."  The  public, 
doubtless,  supposed  these  two  writers  to  be  at  swords'-points  ; 
but,  instead.  Dr.  Haven,  who  lived  in  the  same  town,  would 
almost  ever}-  evening  show  his  sonc}'  face  at  Mr.  Robinson's 
door  ;  and  the  two  warm  friends  would  fight  their  battles  over 
again,  laugh  at  what  they  had  written,  and  congratulate  each 
other  on  the  tactics  used  in  this  pen  Avarfare.  One  evening, 
one  of  Mr.  Robinson's  children  refused  his  proffered  hand  on 
entering;  saying,  "You  called  my  father  a  free-lover."  — 
"He  called  me  an  assassin,"  retorted  Dr.  Haven,  ])oy- 
fashion.  "  Well,"  was  the  reply,  "  I  had  rather  be  called  an 
assassin  than  a  free-lover."  —  "  So  had  I,"  quoth  the  bishop. 
Upon  that  they  shook  hands.  Then  said  Dr.  Haven  to  Mr. 
and  INIrs.  Robinson,  "  I  am  glad  to  say  that  freo-love  (as  a 
practice)  does  not  get  into  3'our  house  ;  for  you  are  almost 
as  completely  one  as  if  orthodox  in  all  other  respects." 

"Warrington"  had  a  humble  opinion  of  his  labors.  He 
would  not  allow  that  any  thing  he  did  was  more  than  "  mid- 
dling good."     When  asked  why  he  did  not  publish  a  volume 


128  MEMOIR  OF 

of  his  letters,  lie  replied,  "  The^'  are  not  worth  it :  there  are 
too  many  books  already."  He  did  not  take  credit  for  much 
of  his  official  writing,  particularly  that  which  he  did  as  sec- 
retary^ of  the  State  Convention.  Veiy  few  knew  by  whose 
hand  those  stirring  addresses  and  appeals  to  the  people 
during  war-time  were  written.  Of  his  domestic  life  during 
the  years  he  held  the  clerkship,  the  annals  are  uneventful. 
Happy  in  being  free  from  pecuniar}^  care,  with  the  columns 
of  an  influential  paper  open  to  him  wherein  to  say  what  he 
chose,  his  opinions  treated  with  that  respect  which  position 
and  office  give,  and  his  country  at  last  on  the  right  road 
towards  its  high  destiny,  he  was  satisfied.  He  never  men- 
tioned his  early  trials,  but  to  laugh  at  them  as  "  part  of  the 
discipline."  His  prosperity  never  changed  the  simplicity 
and  modesty  of  his  surroundings.  When  advised  to  make 
some  addition  to  his  furniture,  or  some  change  in  his  house, 
such  as  his  neighbors  thought  indispensable,  he  said,  "  TFe 
should  look  well  buying  such  things  as  those."  He  made  a 
similar  answer  to  his  children,  when  urged  by  them  to  keep 
a  horse  for  their  use,  and  for  his  own  health  and  recreation. 
He  would  never  buy  or  own  a  dress-coat,  even  to  attend  the 
governor's  levees;  saying,  "It  is  beneath  an  American  citi- 
zen to  take  thought  of  dress-coats."  He  continued  a  free  and 
natural  man  in  all  respects.  He  ate  sparingly,  and  had  no 
choice  as  to  dishes.  He  seldom  drank  wine  or  spirits  of  any 
kind ;  never  used  tobacco  in  any  form ;  and,  as  he  pleasantly 
said,  had  none  of  the  small  vices.  He  believed  in  luck,  and 
called  himself  a  lucky  man.  He  was  also  fond  of  repeating 
what  a  happy  man  he  had  always  been  ;  differing  in  this  from 
most  people,  who  are  happy  without  knowing  it,  and  who 
"  never  are,  but  always  to  be,  blessed."  His  friend  Bishop 
Haven  thus  described  his  personal  appearance  in  1865-67  :  — 

"  A  lymphatic,  shut-in  man,  smiling  only  round  the  mouth,  which 
is  carefully  covered  with  hair  to  hide  the  smile;  short,  thick-set,  with 
his  head  not  unlike  that  of  Irving' s  great  Dutch  governor,  which 
Nature  made  so  perfect,  that  she  could  find  no  ueck  to  match,  and  so 
set  it  directly  on  his  shoulders;  high  forehead;  slightly  bald;  thin 
hair;  ruddy  of  face;  and  the  keenest  political  writer  in  America,  and 
the  best  political  writer  since  *  Junius.'  " 


"WARRINGTON."  129 

His  writings  gave  the  impression  that  he  was  crabbed  and 
hard,  and  new  acquaintances  were  often  surprised  to  find 
him  so  genial.  Some  one  once  called  him  a  cynic ;  and  he 
wrote,  in  repl}',  — 

"  I  belong  to  no  iDliilosophic  sect,  unless  the  enforced  practice  of 
eating  beans  at  the  State  House  makes  me  a  Pythagorean:  so  I  i^ro- 
test  I  am  wronged  when  I  am  styled  a  cynic.  I  might  as  well  be 
called  a  hypothenuse,  for  any  information  or  characterization  the  word 
conveys." 

In  18G6  lie  had  bought  the  house  in  Maiden  in  which  he 
had  lived  for  several  j-ears,  and  in  which  he  died.  He  had 
been  averse  to  bu3ing  a  house,  preferring  to  be  unencum- 
bered ;  so  that,  when  he  wanted  to  move,  he  could  do  so, 
without  being,  like  the  turtle,  obliged  to  carry  his  shell  on 
his  back.  But  his  landlord,  Mr.  Henry  Amerige,  had  so 
urged  him  to  bu}',  offering  the  house  at  a  lower  price  than  he 
had  been  offered  b}'  other  parties,  that  he  finallj'  consented 
to  become  a  landholder ;  and  the  price  (thirty-six  hundred 
dollars)  was  paid  in  a  year  or  two.  In  the  last  j-ears  of 
his  life,  he  often  expressed  his  gratitude  towards  this  kind 
friend,  who,  although  not  one  to  whom  he  had  ever  done  a 
favor,  had  3-et,  with  such  solicitude,  urged  hira  to  provide 
a  home  for  himself  and  family. 

Of  the  family  home  bought  by  the  earnings  of  such  a  man 
as  "Warrington"  it  can  well  be  said,  with  Ruskin,  "that 
our  sons,  and  our  sons'  sons  for  ages  to  come,  might  still 
lead  their  children  revercntl}'  to  tlie  doors  out  of  which  he 
had  been  carried  to  the  grave,  saying,  '  Look,  this  was  his 
house  ;  this  was  his  chamber ! '  '* 


130  MEMOIR  OF 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

BUTLER    AND    BUTLERISM. 

[1870-1S74.] 

"  For  an  oracle  says,  that,  when  a  man  of  brass  or  iron  guards  the  State,  it  will  then 
be  destroyed."  —  Plato's  Kepublic,  Book  III. 

"Warrington"  in  1870  had  attained  to  a  position  of 
comparative  pecuniary  ease.  He  had  a  home  of  his  own ; 
his  cliildren  were  being  educated ;  his  writings  were  appreci- 
ated ;  and  he  was  blessed  according  to  his  desire  "with 
honor,  love,  obedience,  troops  of  friends."  It  was  indeed 
time  for  a  reverse.  In  1869  the  Republican  party  was  in  a 
good-boy  condition :  having  learned  its  lessons,  and  recited 
them  well,  it  was  enjo^'ing  its  rewards  of  merit.  Discipline 
and  order  were  maintained  ;  but  a  new  element  was  soon  to 
appear,  bringing  confusion  and  demoralization  into  its  ranks. 
This  new  element  in  Massachusetts  was  Major-Gen.  Benja- 
min F.  Butler.  Pres.  Grant  had  fulfilled  his  promise  of  a 
political  peace  ;  and  there  was  no  question  in  Massachusetts 
politics  of  more  moment  than  the  division  of  towns,  the 
introduction  of  water,  and  the  claims  of  candidates  for  office. 
"  Their  tameness  is  shocking  to  me,"  said  "  Warrington" 
of  the  politics  of  18G9.  In  1870  the  Butler  fight  really 
began.  Wendell  Phillips  had  been  nominated  for  governor 
by  both  the  Prohibitory  and  the  Labor  Reform  parties.  In 
one  of  his  first  campaign  lectures  (at  Music  Hall,  Boston, 
Oct.  18)  he  made  an  unprovoked  and  bitter  attack  on  the 
Republican  party,  on  "  Warrington,"  F.  W.  Bird,  and  other 
leading  men  who  were  its  representatives.     "  Warrington  " 


'"WARRINGTON."  131 

sat  in  one  of  the  front-seats  of  the  lecture-roon),  listening  to 
tliis  attack.  Before  the  lecture  closed,  he  left  the  hall,  went 
immediately  home,  did  not  sleep  upon  it,  but  took  his  pen  to 
free  his  mind.  In  the  next  day's  "  Journal  "  appeared  his 
first  paper  on  "Wendell  Phillips  at  Music  Hall,  —  a  Re- 
view," which  was  followed  b}"^  four  other  papers  on  the  same 
subject.  lie  opposed  the  movement  to  make  Mr.  Phillips 
governor,  because  he  thought  it  inimical  to  the  interests  of 
the  parties  who  had  nominated  him,  as  well  as  to  those  of 
the  Republican  part}'.  In  his  last  speech  before  election,  Mr. 
Phillips  said,  "Do  your  dut}-  to-morrow,  and  in  another 
3"ear  some  of  us  will  get  out  of  the  way,  and  give  30U  an 
opportunity  to  elect  a  real  governor." 

This  "  real  governor,"  so  confidently  predicted  to  come  in 
1871,  was  Butler,  for  whom  Mr.  Phillips  was  onlj'  a  breaker- 
up  of  the  ground.  "The  Atlantic  Monthl}' "  for  Decem- 
ber, 1871,  contains  an  article  by  "  Warrington,"  on  "  Gen. 
Butler's  Campaign  in  Massachusetts,"  wliich  gives  an  ex- 
haustive account  of  that  gentleman's  raid  upon  the  governor- 
ship. The  limits  of  this  biography  forbid  a  detailed  histor}- 
of  that  contest,  which  can  be  better  gathered  from  the  above- 
mentioned  article,  or  from  the  selections  in  the  succeeding 
pages.  I  have  been  advised  by  well-meaning  friends  to 
say  as  little  as  possible  about  the  Butler  campaign.  This 
campaign  —  a  fight  against  the  one-man  power  that  he 
thought  so  dangerous  to  our  system  of  government  —  was 
the  crowning  glory  of  "Warrington's"  political  life.  I 
know  full  well  what  the  "alarm,  the  struggle,  the  relief," 
cost  him  and  those  he  has  left  behind  ;  and  it  is  m}-  dutv  to 
sa}-  what  I  think  to  be  right  and  just  to  him.  I  shall  "  noth- 
ing extenuate,  nor  set  down  aught  in  malice."  "  It  was  a 
fair  fight,"  said  he  to  the  last  day  of  his  life.  Whether  the 
stab  in  the  back,  given  after  the  fight  ended,  was  fair  play 
or  not,  I  shall  leave  those  to  decide  who  are  more  familiar 
than  I  am  with  the  tactics  of  political  warfare. 

In  June,  1871,  Mr.  Robinso;i  received  the  following  letter 
from  Butler.  The  note  at  the  bottom  is  just  as  it  was 
written  b}'  him  on  the  original  letter. 


132  MEMOIR  OF 

12,  Pembeeton  Squake. 
My  deak  Kobinson, — May  I  trouble  you  for  a  favor?  I  desire 
to  obtain  all  the  reports,  documents,  pamphlets,  or  other  materials, 
exhibiting  the  condition  of  the  punitive  and  reformatory  institutions 
of  the  State  for  two  years  past.  I  also  desire  to  get  any  reports  of 
reformatory  societies  on  the  same  subject.  I  would  also  like  all  I  can 
have  upon  "  compulsory  education,"  including  our  truant  system 
(official  or  unofficial).  I  am  asking  an  immensity  from  you,  but  will 
reciprocate  with  the  whole  document-rooms  of  Congress,  if  you 
wish.  May  I  trouble  you  so  far  as  to  send  them?  or,  if  you  will 
notify  me  when  the  package  is  to  be  had,  I  will  send  my  messenger 
for  it.  I  am  yours  sincerely, 

Benj.  F.  Butlek. 
William  S.  Roblnson,  Esq. 

He  made  a  lyiny  attack  on  me  in  Ms  first  speech.  —  W.  S.  R. 

At  great  inconvenience  lie  attended  to  the  matter  per- 
sonallj',  collected  the  desired  documents  from  the  various 
State  departments,  and  forwarded  them  to  Butler's  head- 
quarters in  Pemberton  Square,  Boston.  Butler's  first  cam- 
paign speech,  containing  the  "  Ij-ing  attack"  above  men- 
tioned, was  delivered  while  "Warrington"  was  at  his 
summer  resting-place,  Manomet,  and  was  replied  to  from 
that  place.  After  his  return,  he  wrote  a  series  of  letters 
for  "  The  Boston  Journal,"  called  "  Gen.  Butler  Reviewed." 
Long  articles  on  the  same  subject  were  also  written  b}^  him 
in  other  leading  newspapers.  The  "Warrington"  letters 
in  "The  Republican"  took  up  the  strain;  and,  as  fast  as 
the  "claimant"  (as  E.  R.  Hoar  called  him)  spoke,  "  War- 
rington "  replied.  His  pen  galloped  day  and  night,  —  some 
nights  he  only  allowed  himself  five  hours'  sleep, — working 
steadily  to  keep  the  State  from  the  hands  of  a  man  who  rep- 
resented the  most  vicious  principle  in  our  affairs,  —  the  ten- 
dency towards  personal  government.  His  little  sou  said, 
*'  What  makes  you  sit  up  so  late,  father?  Why  don't  you  go 
to  bed?"  — "Oh!  I'm  writing  a  letter,  my  boy."  — "For 
the  papers?"  —  "Yes."  —  "Well,  who  are  you  pitching 
into  now,  father?  "  Bishop  Haven,  though  on  Butler's  side, 
refrained  from  his  pleasant  habit  of  dropping  in  during  the 
evenings,  so  as  not  to  interrupt  this  work.     One  evening,  as 


"WAimmoTON."  133 

he  passed  the  house  with  a  friend,  he  said,  "There  in  that 
little  house  burns  the  onl}-  light  in  this  State  that  Ben  Butler 
is  afraid  of."  A  few  leading  Republicans  joined  in  this 
opposition  to  Butler's  claims.  Our  senators,  Sumner  and 
"Wilson,  issued  a  manifesto  against  him,  to  the  effect  that 
"the}"  deepl}^  regret  and  deplore  the  extraordinary  canvass 
which  Gen.  Butler  has  precipitated  upon  the  Commonwealth, 
and  especially  the  attacks  which "  he  has  volunteered  against 
the  existing  State  government  and  the  Republican  part}^  of 
Massachusetts ;    and  that,  in    their   opinion,    his   name   as 

GOVERNOK    WOULD     BE    HOSTILE     TO     THE     BEST    INTERESTS    OF 

THE  Commonwealth  and  the  Republican  party." 

This  course  was  urged  upon  them  b}'  "Warrington"  and 
some  of  the  leading  journalists.  D.  A.  Goddard  of  "The 
Advertiser,"  W.  W.  Clapp  of  "The  Journal,"  and  Samuel 
Bowles  of  "The  Republican,"  declared  that  their  papers 
would  not  support  Butler  as  a  candidate  for  governor.  Mr. 
Sumner  wrote  the  manifesto,  showed  it  "to  Mr.  F.  B.  San- 
born and  to  "Warrington"  before  it  was  printed,  and  car- 
ried it  himself  to  the  "Journal"  office  to  be  set  up.  As 
soon  as  the  card  appeared,  Butler  hurried  down  to  the  Cool- 
idge  House  to  remonstrate  with  Mr.  Sumner,  but  could  get 
no  satisfaction.  He  went  on  with  his  campaign,  making 
speeches  every  night,  and  in  every  speech  attacks  upon 
"  Warrington,"  whom  he  with  justice  considered  the  leader 
of  the  opposition.  The  onl}'  ground  he  had  to  stand  upon 
for  these  attacks  was  Mr.  Robinson's  fat  salary  (three  thou- 
sand dollars  a  year),  and  the  fact  that  he  employed  his 
daughter  as  his  assistant.^  All  his  researches  into  official 
documents  had  failed  to  discover  any  little  peculation  or 
other  cliarge  to  bring  against  the  writer  who  every  day  came 
out  in  the  papers  against  him.  By  long  acquaintance  with 
Butler,  "Warrington"  knew  exactl}'  how  to  rate  liim,  and 
where  to  attack  him.     When  the  prominent  men  of  the  party 


1  This  was,  proljably,  tlio  first  instance  in  this  country  of  a  lady  hold- 
ing an  oflicial  position  in  a  legislative  body. 


134  MEMOIR  OF 

drew  back,  he  stepped  to  the  front,  and  drew  upon  his  victim 
ever}'  arrow  of  his  wit ;  so  that  he  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
rank  and  file  when  they  came  np,  led  by  E.  R.  Hoar,  Senator 
Dawes,  and  others.  The  opposition  to  Butler's  raid  (which 
was  kept  up  ever}'  night  until  after  the  20th  of  September) 
met  with  very  little  opposition,  except  from  the  newspapers, 
until  within  a  short  time  before  the  Worcester  Convention. 
Plis  mone}' ran  like  "water,  and  found  its  waj' into  Maiden, 
where  it  hired  a  band  of  music,  and  drummed  up  recruits  to 
the  Butler  Republican  caucus  to  nominate  delegates  for  the 
convention.  "Warrington,"  who  heretofore  had  invariably 
been  delegated,  was  "  forgotten  to  be  remembered."  On 
learning  of  this  omission,  he  smilingly'  said,  — 

"  They  reckon  ill  who  leave  me  out." 

The  Bird  Club,  that  impromptu  organization,  rallied  against 
Butler.     Said  "Warrington,"  — 

"This  club  is  composed  of  conservatives  as  well  as  radicals.  But 
Butler  knew  that  a  great  majority  of  the  men  who  sat  at  its  table 
held  him  at  arm's-length,  distrusted  him;  some  of  them  despised 
and  hated  hitn.  They  can  afford  to  be  known  as  leading  men  in  the 
army  of  defence  which  has  routed  Butler,  and  saved  the  State  from 
a  disgrace  which  would  have  lasted  for  a  generation." 

Butler  Avas  defeated  in  the  convention  by  a  hundred  and 
seventy-nine  votes.  The  feeling  of  relief  in  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts was  very  great ;  and  no, happier  set  of  men  than  the 
Republicans  had  been  seen  for  a  long  time :  ten  to  one 
were  rejoicing.  "  Warrington  "  received  congratulations  on 
all  sides,  and  was  profusely  thanked  by  those  who  knew 
"  that  he  was  the  first  to  take  hold  of  Ben,  and  the  last  to 
let  go."  He  had  congratulatory  letters,  telling  him  that  he 
had  never  done  such  splendid  work  before,  or  written  so 
strongly,  so  well,  and  so  etfectivel}'.  His  friend  Gilbert 
Haven  told  him  that  at  last  he  had  "struck  twelve."  The 
newspaper  folk  were  delighted  at  the  defeat  of  this  man  who 
had  defied  them  and  despised  the  voice  of  "the  papers." 
The  faint-hearted  ones,  who  had  feared  the  influence  of  the 


"WARRINGTON."  135 

candidate's  glib  tongue  over  the  people,  were  obliged  to  own 
that  the  pen  was  the  mightier  power.  "Tools!"  sa3-s  Car- 
lyle,  "  tools  !  Hast  thou  not  a  Brain,  furnished,  furnishable 
with  some  glimmerings  of  Light ;  and  three  fingers  to  hold  a 
pen  withal?  Never  since  Aaron's  Rod  went  out  of  practice, 
or  even  before  it,  was  there  such  a  wonder-working  tool : 
greater  than  all  recorded  miracles  have  been  performed  by 
Pens." 

In  April,  1872,  a  new  departure  in  politics  was  proposed; 
and  a  call  was  issued  for  a  convention  of  liberals  of  all  par- 
ties to  nominate  a  candidate  for  President.  In  spite  of  the 
remonstrance  of  his  friends,  who  told  him  that  it  would  be 
at  the  certain  risk  of  loss  of  ofBce,  ""Warrington"  signed 
the  call  for  this  convention.  Mr.  G.  II.  Monroe  said  of  this 
act  of  his  friend,  that  he  "  never  knew  of  any  one  so  abso- 
lutely fearless,  and  regardless  of  himself  and  his  interests, 
as  to  sign  such  a  call  at  this  time."  Of  his  opinion  of  the 
movement,  he  wrote,  — 

"  I  am  satisfied  that  it  is  necessary,  even  at  the  risk  of  hazarding  a 
Democratic  triumph,  to  call,  'Halt!'  I  know  that  great  numbers  of 
Republicans  think  so.  I  know  the  young  men  ought  to  be  led  to 
better  things  than  this  personal  Grant  party  propose  to  give  them. 
.  .  .  There  should  be  a  protest  against  this  inevitable  badness,  and  an 
attempt  to  reforni  it.  The  question  of  a  new  party  was  the  same  in 
1848  and  1844.  The  war  is  over :  we  must  get  baclc  to  peace  fashions ; 
martial  law  must  give  way  to  civil  government  and  the  maxims  of 
peace;  and,  if  the  full  consummation  is  to  be  delaj'ed  till  18TG,  we 
ought  to  make  a  beginning  now,  so  that  it  may  not  be  postponed  till 
1880  or  indefinitely." 

"When  the  Cincinnati  Convention  nominated  Horace  Gree- 
lej',  "Warrington"  was  disappointed.  lie  had  no  faith  in 
Mr.  Greeley's  powers  to  establish  a  part}-  of  reform,  or 
found  one  that  would  last  a  reasonable  length  of  time  ;  and 
said,  — 

"  The  nomination  of  Greeley  throws  the  politics  of  the  country  into 
confusion.  I  don't  believe  the  people  of  this  country  are  ready  to  go 
through  a  presidential  election  for  the  purpose  of  confusion.  So  far 
as  personal  duty  is  concerned,  every  man  can  at  once  determine  for 


1 


136  MEMOIR  OF 

himself.  I  have  all  along  thought  Trumbull  and  John  Q.  Adams 
would  have  been  the  strongest  ticket  for  Cincinnati.  It  seems  to 
me  a  mistake  to  suppose  both  candidates  should  be  Eepublicans. 
When  Frank  Blair  appeared  on  the  Cincinnati  platform  and  dictated 
its  nomination,  or  (take  another  theory,  not  contradictory,  but  col- 
lateral) when  Fenton  dictated  a  i^residential  candidate  for  the  pur- 
pose of  controlling  the  politics  of  New  York  against  a  senatorial 
rival,  the  reform  movement  was  raided  upon  and  captured.  No 
blame  to  it.  It  was  in  its  idea  an  honest  and  wholesome  movement. 
The  ship  engaged  in  the  honestest  trade  is  as  likely  as  any  other  to  be 
taken  by  a  pirate.  The  Cincinnati  Convention  was  so  taken.  It  was 
a  sign  that  that  way  out  of  politics  had,  for  that  time,  failed.  It  was 
a  sign  that  the  personal  system  had  been  able,  not  only  to  control  the 
administration  and  all  local  and  general  politics,  but  to  detail  men 
enough  to  break  up,  for  the  time  being,  the  attempt  at  reform.  The 
movement  was,  for  that  time,  at  an  end." 

Pres.  Grant  was  re-elected  b}'  a  large  majority.  Many  pro- 
gressive Republicans  who  did  not  accept  Mr.  Greeley's  nomi- 
nation voted  for  Grant  as  the  less  of  two  evils,  Mr.  Robinson 
among  tliem  ;  though  he  afterwards  expressed  regret  at  hav- 
ing done  so.  Horace  Greele}'  died  shortl}'  after  the  November 
election  :  "  Gone  in  peace,  after  so  many  struggles  ;  in  honor, 
after  so  much  obloqu}-."  ^  "  AVarrington  "  was  elected  for  the 
eleventh  time  b}'  the  legislature  of  1872  ;  only  tweutj-'four 
dissenting  votes  being  cast,  —  not  so  much  opposition  as  he 
had  expected.  He  had  taken  very  little  rest  after  the  severe 
mental  strain  of  the  Butler  fight ;  and,  during  this  session 
(prolonged  on  account  of  the  great  Boston  fire^),  his  health, 
never  robust,  began  to  show  symptoms  of  decline.  After 
the  legislature  adjourned,  he  made  a  short  visit  in  Dubuque, 
lo.,  whence  the  letter  was  written  to  Mr.  Sumner  on  "  The 
Political  Situation  of  1872."  Having  signed  tlie  call  for  the 
Cincinnati  Convention,  he  felt  himself  a  little  out  with  his 
part}-,  though  he  had  voted  for  the  best  of  its  candidates. 
He  expressed  the  thought  that  he  did  not  expect  to  have 

1  New-York  Times. 

2  There  had  been  an  extra  session  on  this  account  in  November  and 
December  of  1872.  It  was  at  tliis  extra  session  that  the  resolution  of 
censure  wa§  passed  upon  Charles  Sumner. 


"WAERmOTON."  137 

mucli  to  do  with  politics  this  year,  except  in  the  wa}-  of  criti- 
cism and  newspaper-writing. 

Butler  did  not  repeat  his  raid  upon  the  governorship  in  1872, 
being  busy  with  weightier  matters,  one  of  which  was  the  defeat 
of  "Warrington"  as  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Bj'  his  frank  criticism  of  Butler's  public  career,  "  Warring- 
ton "  had  incurred  tliat  person's  hostility,  who  looked  upon 
him  Avilh  justice  as  the  head  and  front  of  the  opposition  to 
his  attempts  upon  the  governorship  in  1871.  Being  the  only 
leading  man  of  his  opposers  who  could  be  reached  with  im- 
punity, he  determined  to  make  an  example  of  him.  Ru- 
mors of  secret  machinations  to  accomplish  his  defeat  reached 
Mr.  Robinson,  and  he  was  advised  to  take  measures  to  rally 
his  friends  for  his  support.  He  refused,  saying,  "If  Butler's 
gang  can  defeat  me,  let  them  do  so.  I  will  not  stoop  to  mix 
in  their  dirty  work  for  twenty  clerkships."^  Few  of  his 
friends  were  aware  of  this  secret  league  formed  against  him  ; 
and,  when  warned,  they  could  not  believe  that  Butler  had 
the  power  to  accomplish  his  designs.- 

The  legislature  of  1873  met ;  and,  wlien  the  balloting  for 
clerk  was  over,  Mr.  Robinson  stood  up  at  his  desk,  as  usual, 
to  hear  the  result.  The  vote  was  announced  b}'  the  speaker 
(Gl  for  Robinson,  171  for  Taylor),  and  was  received  (said  a 
reporter)  "  b}-  a  loud  clapping  of  hands  on  the  part  of  the 
House."  It  took  his  friends  completel}-  by  surprise,  and 
threw  some  of  the  officers  of  the  House  off  their  guard. 
The  sergeant-at-arms.  Major  Morissc}*,  forgot  his  duty  for 
a  moment ;  and  Mr.  Rabinson  recalled  him  to  himself,  and 
set  him  right. 

Tliis  undeserved  affront  was  kcenl}'  felt,  coming  as  it  did 
when  his  health  was  impaired  b}^  jears  of  hard  service  in 

1  A  ilay  or  two  previous  to  tlie  opening  of  the  legislature,  Le  was 
met  by  a  pretendetl  friend,  who  volunteered  the  assurance  that  there 
was  no  movement  against  him.  At  the  same  time,  this  person  was 
secretly  working  to  acconijilish  his  defeat. 

■-  In  the  selection  called  Warrington  on  his  Defeat  will  be  found 
his  own  view  of  the  subject,  and  an  account  of  the  political  reasons 
and  combinations  which  made  this  culmination  possible. 


138  MEMOIR  OF 

building  up  and  maintaining  tlie  very  party  wliicti  so  ill 
treated  him.  He  had  found  out,  to  his  cost,  that  what  lie  had 
said  of  the  Republican  part^^  in  18G1  was  just  as  true  in 
1873  :  "As  a  part}',  we  are  not  famous  for  standing  by  our 
friends.  The  moment  an  interested  political  opposition 
raises  a  clamor  against  any  of  our  leading  men,  we  acquiesce 
for  the  sake  of  peace  and  harmonj-."  This  legislature  was 
also  the  one  that  refused  to  rescind  the  resolutions  passed 
at  the  extra  session  of  1872,  censuring  Charles  Sumner. 
Among  the  members  who  A'oted  and  worked  against  "  War- 
rington "  were  several  who  have  since  fallen  under  the 
censure  of  the  community  ;  in  fact,  broken  the  laws  of  the 
Commonwealth.^  Speaking  of  his  opposers  in  1875,  he  said, 
"  I  have  no  malice  towards  them  ;  but  I  do  know  that  I  kept 
Butler  from  their  throats,  or  helped  to  do  it,  in  1871-72  ; 
while  every  one  of  the  State-house  men  (except  F.  M.  Stone) 
sneaked  out  of  the  contest,  or  was  at  least  xevy  careful  not 
to  go  into  it  very  openly  ;  and,  when  fight  was  made  on  me, 
not  a  hand  or  voice  did  I  get,  so  far  as  I  know.  Of  course, 
I  do  not  include  the  under-clerks  and  subordinates,  some  of 
whom  were  friendl}'  enough  ;  though  I  never  asked  an}-  thing 
of  them." 

Through  an  "  nnder-clerk,"  a  friend  of  Mr.  Robinson,  I 
am  able  to  corroborate  what  he  himself  told  me.  This 
gentleman  said,  "After  his  defeat,  many  of  his  State-house 
friends  hardly  dared  take  him  by  the  hand,  or  be  seen  talking 
with  him,  they  were  so  afraid  of  having  their  own  offices 
taken  away,  as  the  '  clerk's  '  had  been.  One  of  the  clerks 
who  had  defended  him  was  threatened,  that,  if  he  were  not 
careful  what  he  said,  his  head  would  be  taken  off  as  Robin- 

1  In  a  letter  written  in  1875,  Mr.  Eobinson  said,  "Bardwell  of 
Deerlield  turns  out  to  be  a  thief:  he  was  one  of  my  chief  opponents  in 
1873.  Edwards  of  Watcrtown,  another,  is  under  legislative  censure  for 
grabbing  trial-justice-fees,  or  something  of  that  sort.  Both  distin- 
guished themselves  also  by  siieeches  against  Sumner.  Best  of  Stone- 
ham,  another  thief,  was  one  of  the  military  swashbucklers.  Newton 
Morse,  a  defaulter  and  gambler,  and  E.  D.  Winslow,  were  of  this  clique. 
They  are  all  tarred  with  the  same  stick." 


"WARRIKGTON."  139 

son's  had  been."  ^  I  need  not  ask  the  reader  to  consider 
what  it  was  to  a  man  of  Mr.  Robinson's  sensitive  and  con- 
fiding nature  to  go  da}'  after  daj-  to  the  State  House,  where 
he  had  been  an  honored  and  welcome  occupant,  and  be  met 
b}'  such  coolness  on  the  part  of  his  old  associates.  The 
"  cold-shoulderism  "  of  his  part}^  and  the  defection  of  this 
portion  of  his  friends,  was  fur  worse  to  him  than  the  loss 
of  office.  His  real  friends  were  very  much  grieved  at  his 
defeat,  and  expressed  their  S3'mpath3'  with  him.  Mr.  Sumner 
wrote  at  this  time  the  following  letter :  — 

Washington,  March  8, 1873. 
My  dear  "  Waerington,"  —  Others  may  have  divined  my  feel- 
ings ;  hilt  I  have  never  uttered  a  word,  or  liint  even,  on  the  action  of 
the  legislature.  I  am  sure  that  the  time  will  come  when  that  measure 
now  condemned  Avill  be  hailed  with  honor.  An  acute  politician  has 
recently  congratulated  me  upon  it  as  the  strongest  move  possible.  I 
introduced  it  because  it  was  right.  Ever  yours, 

CUARLES   SUMXER. 

P.  S.  —  Let  me  convey,  though  tardily,  my  regret  that  you,  too, 
have  fallen  under  legislative  displeasure. 

Heniy  "Wilson  wrote  as  follows  :  — 

"I  am  surprised  and  grieved  at  your  defeat.  I  had  hoped  and 
expected  you  would  hold  the  clerkship  of  the  House  as  long  as  you 
desired  to  do  so.  What  do  you  intend  to  do  ?  How  are  you  situated  ? 
Can  I  aid  you  ?  If  so,  how  ?  Let  me  hear  from  you  soon.  If  I  can  in 
any  way  aid  you,  I  will  do  so  with  all  my  heart.  You  and  I  have  not 
thought  alilvc  always;  but  I  have  tlie  deepest  regard  for  you.  As  old 
friends  aie  falling  around  me,  those  that  remain  grow  nearer  and 
dearer.  If  you  will  write  me  how  you  are  situated,  and  what  plans 
you  have,  it  may  be  in  my  power  to  aid  you;  and,  if  so,  you  can  com- 
mand me." 

lie  did  not  "  whine,  put  finger  in  the  ej-e,  and  sob,"  but, 
to  all  outward  appearances,  bore  his  defeat  manful!}-.  Onl}- 
a  few  knew  how  deeply  he  was  hurt.  At  home  he  was  like 
one  dazed  and  in  a  deep  study  :  he  could  hardly  be  aroused  to 

1  He  was  pursued  by  insultinj^  letters,  sotrie  of  thera  in  Ku-Klux 
Latin,  after  the  style  of  those  sent  to  Mr.  Sumner  from  the  South. 
Though  he  was  not,  as  was  Mr.  Sumner,  threatened  with  assassination, 
his  beheading  was  the  principal  theme  of  these  epistles. 


140  MEMOIR  OF 

take  an  interest  in  suiTouudlng  things.  He  fell  sick  at  last, 
—  not  -^^-itli  any  bodil}'  disease,  but  with  a  mental  sickness,  — 
and  went  to  bed,  as  he  said,  "  to  think  it  out ;  for  I  have  been 
on  a  long  cruise,  and  must  lay  up  for  repairs."  In  a  few 
weeks  he  rallied,  and,  after  eleven  years  of  freedom  from 
pecuniar}-  anxiety,  resumed  his  long-unused  occupation,  — 
looking  for  "jobs  of  work." 

He  thought  of  attempting  something  as  a  parliamentary 
lawyer,  and  issued  cards  announcing  the  fact.  The  result 
was,  that,  though  he  answered  many  letters  asking  his 
oi^inion  on  mooted  questions  of  parliamentary'  proceedings, 
he  never  asked  a  fee,  nor,  with  a  single  exception,  ever  re- 
ceived one.  He  had  no  connection  with,  nor  mone^'-interest 
in,  an}'  newspaper,  apart  from  the  "Warrington"  letters. 
He  was  no  longer  in  close  affiliation  with  the  party  for  which 
he  had  sacrificed  so  much,  since  he  had,  as  earl}^  as  1872, 
expressed  his  firm  belief  in  the  coming  disintegration  of  that 
bod}'  as  a  party  organization.  He  was  too  old  and  worn  out 
in  the  service  to  take  up  common  newspaper-work  again. 
He  was  not  one  to  insist  upon  his  claims  to  be  provided 
for,  and  no  one  thought  of  oflfering  a  sinecure  to  such  a 
fierce  radical  politician  as  "  Warrington."  Perhaps  it  was 
not  possible  to  provide  for  him  in  this  way,  even  if  he  had 
desired  it ;  since  Butler  guarded  the  State,  and,  by  his  influ- 
ence at  Washington,  held  the  keys  of  office :  senators  were 
elected,  postmasters  appointed,  navy-yard  and  other  offices 
filled,  at  his  beck.  Mr.  Robinson  was  very  much  depressed 
during  the  winter  from  the  lack  of  congenial  employment : 
he  missed  the  busy  routine  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed. 
Coming  down  from  the  State  House  one  day,  he  went  into 
"The  Boston  Journal"  office,  where  sat  his  friend  Mr. 
Clapp,  the  editor.  "  He  looked  blue  enough,"  said  Mr. 
Clapp  :  "  but  I  cheered  him  up,  and  told  him  not  to  worry 
about  his  bread  and  butter ;  that  he  might  have  a  seat  at  a 
table  in  the  office,  and  write  as  much  or  as  little  as  he  chose  ; 
and,  though  I  would  not  agree  to  print  every  thing  he  wrote, 
I  would  pay  him  thirty  dollars  a  week.     He  brightened  at 


"WARRINGTON."  141 

this,  and  said,  '  On  those  terms  I'll  sit  there.'  "  He  wrote 
for  "The  Journal"  until  June,  when  his  health  failed  so 
fast,  that  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Manomet  for  rest  and 
recuperation.  He  returned  home  in  Juh',  and  resumed  his 
pen  for  the  purpose  of  writing  a  pamphlet  on  "  The  Salary 
Grab."  This  proceeding  on  the  part  of  members  of  Con- 
gress to  obtain  back-pay,  and  increase  of  salar}',  was  con- 
demned by  "Warrington"  from  the  first;  and  he  lost  no 
opportunity  to  denounce  and  bring  to  light  the  chief  offend- 
ers.^ Thinking  that  the  people  ought  to  know  the  facts  con- 
cerning this  enormous  swindle  of  the  public  mone}',  he  wrote 
"The  Salary  Grab,"  and  published  it  mostly  at  his  own 
expense.^  The  Preface,  which  follows,  will  give  some  idea 
of  its  contents  :  — 

JlALDEX,  Mass,  August,  1873. 

This  book  contains  an  accurate  history  of  the  great  congressional 
theft  of  a  million  dollars  (more  or  less)  from  the  treasiuy  of  the 
United  States  and  the  pockets  of  the  people,  known  as  "  The  Salary- 
Grab."  I  mean  its  public  lutlory,  as  it  is  contained  in  "The  Con- 
gressional Globe"  and  other  official  documents,  and  not  its  private 
history,  which,  being  unknown  or  conjectural  (except  to  the  parties 
concerned  in  the  affair,  or  close  observers  of  it  upon  the  spot),  I  have 
not  deemed  it  worth  while  to  undertake  to  search  out  and  relate. 
This  account  is  authentic,  if  "The  Globe"  is  authentic;  and  a  full 
examination  of  its  statements,  a  full  analysis  of  its  inferences,  is 
hereby  invited  from  all  persons  implicated  in  the  offence,  their  abet- 
tors, or  their  apologists. 

I  have  avoided  as  well  as  I  could  all  doubtful  or  disputed  ques- 


1  At  the  Kepublican  Convention  of  1873  (or  the  Hamilton-hall  meet- 
ing), he  tried  in  vain  to  get  a  certain  portion  of  the  leaders  to  pass  a  reso- 
lution squarely  condemning  the  whole  gi-ab.    It  -was  as  follows:  — 

Resolved,  That  tlio  recent  Act  of  Congress,  by  which  the  members  took  from  the 
treasury  over  a  million  tloUare,  thereby  increasing  the  public  burdens  and  the  tax- 
ation of  the  business-men  and  the  working-classes  wantonly  and  ininecessarily, 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their  own  pay,  while  their  expenses  had  not  been 
increased,  —  accompanied  as  it  was  by  a  clause  putting  into  their  own  pockets  ten 
thousand  dollars  each  for  work  already  done  under  a  law  well  underetood  when 
they  were  elected,  —  is  an  act  which  merits  (he  condemnation  of  the  people  through- 
out the  countrj';  and  that  we  unite  with  the  Ilepublicans  of  every  State,  who  have^ 
in  their  conventions,  with  unanimity  expressed  their  dijupprobatiou  of  the  same. 

-  Published  by  Lee  &  Shcpard,  Boston. 


142  MEMOIR  OF 

tions  on  which  a  possible  defence  could  be  raised ;  because  my  pur- 
pose has  beeu  to  hold  up  to  public  condemnation  the  proved  fjuilty 
persons,  and  not  to  mix  up  with  them  persons  whose  guilt  is  a  matter 
of  inference  on  account  of  the  interest  they  had  in  the  success  of  the 
theft.  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  therefore,  attention  has  been 
paid,  first  of  all,  to  B.  F.  BiUler,  who,  as  the  record  shows,  was  the 
leading  spirit  in  the  business  from  first  to  last ;  who  reported  the  plan 
from  his  own  committee ;  who  moved  to  attach  it  to  the  Appropria- 
tion Bill ;  who  was  foremost  in  rallying  its  friends  to  its  support;  who 
was  dejiended  on  in  the  delicate  and  difficult  tactics  of  getting  the 
bill  into  the  Conference  Committee;  and  who,  as  a  member  of  that 
committee,  put  it  through  there.  His  prominence  is  known  and 
acknowledged  by  the  name  familiarly  given  to  the  grab  in  debate,-— 
"  The  Butler  Amendment.^'  Attention  has  next  been  called  to  his 
accomplices,  —  Randall,  Banks,  Carpenter,  and  others ;  and,  lastly 
(through  the  complete  record  of  the  yeas  and  nays),  to  the  members 
who  voted  for  it  directly  on  every  or  on  any  occasion,  and  to  the  con- 
siderable number  who  aided  it  by  their  votes  on  collateral  questions ; 
such  as  suspensions  of  the.  rules,  motions  to  adjourn  at  critical 
periods  when  the  rogues  thought  an  adjournment  necessary,  and  so 
on.  I  liave  not  analyzed  the  yeas  and  nays,  preferring  to  leave  that 
work  to  the  i^eople  of  the  respective  states  and  districts,  who,  know- 
ing the  parties  concerned,  can  best  judge  of  motives  and  of  possible 
extenuating  circumstances. 

To  expose  Butler  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  writing  and 
printing  this  treatise.  He  seeks  to  become  governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, —  a  State  hitherto  respectable,  and,  up  to  at  least  Jiis  appear- 
ance in  its  politics,  renowned  in  the  history  of  the  country.  li  the 
peoijle  want  him,  they  will  have  him ;  but,  if  they  want  him,  I,  for 
one,  am  desirous  that  they  should  know  what  they  are  likely  to  get. 
The  question  is  not,  whether  even  he  might  not,  if  sufficiently 
tempted,  do  creditable  things ;  whether  even  he,  the  chief  engineer 
of  a  most  discreditable  public  burglary,  might  not  be  j^rovoked  into 
reforming  here  and  there  an  abuse:  but  the  question  is,  whether 
there  is  any  probability  of  this  sort  to  compensate  for  the  widespread 
public  scandal  to  be  incurred  by  the  Commonwealth  in  electing  such 
a  man,  and  the  risk  of  a  permanent  and  incurable  rottenness  in  all 
departments  of  the  State.  In  addition  to  this  reason  is  a  desire  to  do 
something  to  aid  the  friends  of  good  government  in  the  other  States, 
who  are  now  trying  to  rescue  the  politics  of  the  country  at  large  from 
the  demoralization,  financial  and  governmental,  which  has  followed 
in  the  train  of  the  civil  war.  To  the  good-will  of  those  who  are 
engaged  in  this  enterprise  I  respectfully  commend  this  history,  and 
subscribe  myself  their  co-operative  friend,  "WAKEtxGTO:jf. 


1 


"WARRINGTON."  143 

Butler  had  renewed  his  attempt  on  the  governorship  in 
1873  at  least  a  mouth  earlier  than  in  1871.  The  organiza- 
tion against  him  in  1871  was  delayed  till  a  very  late  day 
(being  an  informal  one  two  or  three  weeks  previous  to  the 
convention)  ;  thus  giving  the  public  ver}'  little  chance  to 
know  what  measures  were  to  be  taken.  In  1873,  on  the 
contrary,  the  opposition  to  him  was  as  open  as  it  was  possi- 
ble to  make  it.  A  meeting  was  held  at  Hamilton  Hall  in 
Boston,  July  2G,  attended  by  about  a  hundred  and  twenty 
leading  Republicans,  who  met  together  to  protest  against 
the  "claimant,"  and  devise  means  for  his 'defeat.  "War- 
rington" wrote  the  "Address  to  the  People  of  the  State," 
issued  from  that  meeting.  He  returned  to  Manomet  to  stay 
during  August  and  a  part  of  September,  but  did  not  receive 
the  usual  benefit  from  his  summer  vacation.  At  the  solicita- 
tion of  a  member  of  the  Republican  State  Committee,  who 
came  to  see  him  and  urged  the  exigencies  of  the  campaign, 
'  he  came  home,  and  went  into  harness  again,  to  woric  for 
the  party  which  had  defeated  him.  Again  burned  the  "  only 
light  in  the  State  Ben  Butler  was  afraid  of ; "  and  the  cease- 
less pen  was  at  work.  Long  articles  were  written  in  "  The 
Boston  Journal"  and  other  newspapers  ;  and  the  "Warring- 
ton" letters  did  their  work  towards  informing  the  western 
part  of  the  State  upon  the  subject.  During  the  campaign  he 
was  approached  by  one  of  Butler's  flunkies,  who  intimated, 
that  if  he  would  bury  the  hatchet,  or  refrain  from  writing 
against  the  would-be  governor,  hostilities  towards  him  would 
cease,  and  that  he  would  be  provided  for.  In  other  words, 
to  use  his  own  interpretation,  "  Could  you  not  refrain  from 
figliting  Butlerism,  and  let  the  state  go  to  the  dogs,  as  the 
country  is  going ? "  Tlie  time  had  come  again  for  him  to 
speak  "  God's  truth"  at  the  right  time;  and  Butler  found 
him,  as  in  1871,  one  of  his  most  effective  opponents.^     Gen. 

1  In  bi3  time  of  health  and  prosperity  lie  had  said,  "AViite  your 
heroism  now,  and  then  slmt  your  doors,  and  tlirow  away  all  materials 
for  making  confession  of  your  weakness.  By  and  by,  when  sickness 
and  old  age  come,  and  mind  and  body  decay,  the  men  who  talk  thus 


144  MEMOIR  OF 

Butler  was  defeated  by  about  the  same  majority  as  in  1871. 
His  raid  was  much  better  organized  than  in  that  year ;  but 
the  work  of  defence  against  him  was  shared  more  widely 
than  ever  before.  Hamilton  Hall  was  justified,  and  shown 
to  have  been  a  necessity.  Butler  was  bottled  for  the  time 
being,  and  ' '  Warrington  ' '  was  done  with  him. 

After  the  severe  work  of  this  campaign,  Mr.  Robinson's 
health  seemed  entirel}^  wasted.  He  had  no  regular  employ- 
ment except  his  weekly  letters,  and  no  abiding-place  in  the 
cit}'.  Election  was  over ;  the  fight  of  the  year  was  done. 
The  lawyer  couTd  return  to  his  brief,  the  merchant  to  his 
counting-room,  the  doctor  to  his  patient ;  but,  for  the  politi- 
cal writer,  the  time  to  la}'  down  arms  had  come.  He  lost 
courage  ;  and  his  health  became  so  much  impaired,  that  his 
friends  were  alarmed,  and  insisted  upon  his  taking  a  long 
rest  from  all  writing  and  pecuniary  anxiety.  To  enable  him 
to  do  so,  they  determined  to  give  him  a  substantial  testimo- 
nial of  their  regard ;  and,  the  silver  wedding  of  Mr,  and 
Mrs.  Robinson  occurring  about  this  time  (Nov.  30,  1873), 
that  occasion  was  chosen  as  a  fitting  one  for  such  a  purpose. 
Old  friends,  tried  and  true,  companions  of  many  a  well-fought 
field,  brought  or  sent  gifts,  and  messages  of  love  and  appre- 
ciation. Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn's  account  of  this  gathering  is 
as  follows :  — 

"  Messrs.  F.  W.  Bird  and  Edward  W.  Kinsley  had  undertaken  to 
collect  and  select  these  offerings  of  friendship ;  and  the  list  of  donors 
was  headed  by  Mayor  Pierce  with  one  thousand  dollars.  Others  fol- 
lowed with  less  and  lesser  sums ;  the  number  of  givers  amounting  to 
nearly  a  hundred,  and  the  sum  presented  being  more  than  four  thou- 
sand dollars,  given  in  such  forms  as  thoughtful  friendship  and  good 
taste  prompted.  The  occasion  was  the  silver  wedding;  but  the  motive 
for  so  handsome  a  testimonial  was  the  knowledge  of  Mr.  Eobinson's 
most  intimate  friends  that  this  pleasant  anniversary  found  him  in 
uncertain  health,  and  unable  to  pursue  with  his  accustomed  vigor  the 
profession  of  journalism,  for  which  nature  and  habit  have  so  well 

independently  will  send  for  the  doctor  and  the  minister,  and  die  mum- 
bling the  catechism.  The  moral  is,  '  Write  your  heroism  now.'  "  The 
"by  and  by"  of  which  he  spoke  had  not  come:  it  never  came  to  him. 


''WARRINGTON."  145 

fitted  him.  It  seemed  proper,  therefore,  that  those  who  had  main- 
tained along  with  him  for  so  many  years,  througli  good  and  evil 
report,  and  with  all  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  that  attend  political 
warfare,  the  good  old  cause  of  freedom  and  progress,  should  remind 
him  tliat  a  halance  stood  to  his  account  on  the  books  of  friendship, 
which  miglit  as  Avell  be  transferred  now  as  at  some  future  time  when 
it  might  be  less  useful.  It  was  felt  that  he  had  been  our  soldier  all 
these  years,  working  in  the  trenches  and  fighting  on  the  ramparts  of 
journalism,  more  for  others  than  for  himself;  that  when  a  movement 
was  to  be  made,  or  a  blow  struck,  against  some  fortified  post  of  op- 
pression or  some  impudent  pretender  to  leadership,  or  when  some 
ambush  of  the  enemy  was  to  be  beaten  uji,  Piobinson  had  volunteered, 
or  had  been  assigned  to  the  most  conspicuous  service,  and  had  drawn 
on  himself  the  lire  of  the  other  side,  while  many  a  more  selfish  man 
would  have  kept  in  the  ranks,  and  thought  first  of  his  own  interest, 
and  next  of  his  duty  to  the  cause.  They  remembered  that  he  was 
turned  out  of  his  clerkship  last  winter,  less  for  his  own  opinions  than 
for  those  of  life-long  friends  wiiom  he  was  unwilling  to  desert  and 
decry.  This  was  a  mean  and  cruel  act,  coming  as  it  did  at  a  time 
when  Mr.  Robinson's  health  was  enfeebled  by  more  than  thirty  years 
of  hard  work;  and  it  did  not,  of  course,  increase  the  vigor  of  his 
body,  or  the  buoyancy  of  his  spirits.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  did 
not  swerve  him  from  his  course,  nor  make  it  any  easier  for  the  con- 
triver of  the  salary  grab  to  become  governor  of  Massachusetts.  Once 
more,  as  so  often  before,  the  pen  of  '  WaiTington '  became  the  most 
effective  defender  of  good  order,  and  the  most  trenchant  weapon  to 
defeat  a  troublesome  demagogue.  And,  in  all  these  labors  of  late 
years,  he  has  found  in  his  own  home  his  best  adviser  and  most  appre- 
ciative critic.  Looking  back  farther,  they  called  to  mind  that  there 
had  scarcely  becTi  a  noble  enterprise,  a  wise  and  bold  policy  in  national 
affairs,  or  a  humane  and  progressive  measure  of  state  legislation  or 
social  agitation,  which  had  not  received  timely,  steady,  and  effective 
support  from  him  during  the  last  thirty  years.  The  friend  of  Sum- 
ner and  Wilson,  of  Banks  and  Burlingame,  of  Andrew  and  Schouler, 
Howe  and  Stearns  and  Bird,  Bullock  and  Claflin  and  Washburn,  and 
the  other  conspicuous  men  who  have  directed  affairs  in  Massachusetts 
for  twenty  years  past,  he  had  never  allowed  friendship  to  blind  his 
eyes,  or  restrain  his  jjen,  if  he  saw  occasion  to  oppose  his  own  com- 
rades for  the  good  of  the  people.  Scarcely  a  man  among  the  public 
characters  who  subscribed  to  his  testimonial  but  had  at  some  time 
smarted  under  his  criticism,  or,  at  least,  encountered  his  reproof; 
but  they  bore  no  malice  any  more  than  he  did.  '  Faithful  are  the 
wounds  of  a  friend ; '  and  though,  as  one  of  the  subscribers  said, 
'Warrington'  is  in  the  habit  of  falling,  like  tlie  scriptural  rain,  'on 
the  just  and  on  the  unjust,'  it  is  only  the  unjust  (for  the  most  part) 


146  MEMOIR  OF 

that  lay  it  up  against  him.  Hence  the  hearty  and  to  hira  quite  un- 
expected warmth  of  response  to  the  kindly  appeal  made  in  his  behalf 
by  Messrs.  Bird  and  Kinsley. 

'•  This  cordiality  was  expressed  by  none  in  more  touching  terms 
than  by  Yice-Pres.  Wilson,  who,  but  for  his  being  called  to  assume 
his  high  ofSce  in  the  Senate  for  the  first  time  to-day,  would  have 
been  with  us  at  this  festival.  Xo  longer  separated  from  the  comrades 
of  many  an  arduous  straggle  by  the  unhappy  discords  of  a  year  ago, 
Henry  Wilson  —  re-united  with  Sumner,  with  Bird,  with  Robinson, 
and  other  companions  —  wrote  this  to  Mr,  Bird  from  Xatick,  just 
before  setting  out  for  Washington :  — 

"  '  Ijlx  DE.ui  Sir,  —  I  regret  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  accept  your  invitation 
to  visit  oar  very  dear  associate  and  friend  of  so  many  years  on  tlie  annivereary  of 
his  wedding.  It  would.  I  assure  you,  give  me  sincere  pleasure  to  join  withyoii  and 
other  friends  in  paying  him  and  his  wife  this  tribute  of  aflection.ate  regard.  .  .  . 
I  send  with  this  sum  my  gratitude  for  the  long  services  of  one  of  the  best  pens 
ever  given  to  our  sacred  cause,  and  my  respect,  friendship,  and  love.  May  God 
give  to  our  dear  fiiend  Robinson,  his  wife  and  children,  health,  and  years  of  happi- 
ness, and  the  constant  friendship  of  such  friends  as  will  be  with  them  on  this  occa- 
sion ! ' 

"  The  house  was  crowded  all  the  evening  with  friends  who  had 
come  to  offer  their  congi-atulatious,  while  messages  were  read  from 
others  who  could  not  be  present." 

More  than  a  hundred  letters  were  received,  containing 
friendl}"  and  congratulatory  messages,  from  which  the  follow- 
ing are  selected. 

From  Charles  Sumner  :  — 

"  I  beg  you  not  to  measure  my  sympathy  with  your  object,  or  my 
regard  for  W.  S.  R.,  by  this  contribution.  I  wish  it  Avere  a  great  deal 
larger.  I  cannot  think  of  his  constant,  unfailing,  and  vivid  pen, 
always  for  freedom  and  human  rights,  without  admiration  and  grati- 
tude. Such  remarkable  service  deserves  an  honorable  pension,  placing 
our  friend  above  care,  and  making  him  easy  for  the  rest  of  his  life." 

From  John  G.  "Whittier  :  — 

"  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  testify  my  high  appreciation  of 
otir  friend  William  S.  Robinson,  on  the  occasion  of  his  twenty-fifth 
marriage  anniversary.  He  has  been  a  power  in  the  State,  and  has 
done  noble  service  to  freedom  and  humanity.  That  he  and  his  excel- 
lent lady  may  happily  live  to  enjoy  their  fiftieth  anniversary,  is  the 
wish,  I  am  sure,  of  all  their  friends." 


"WARRINGTON."  '  147 

From  Hon.  Jobu  II.  Clifford  :  — 

"I  enclose  a  trifle  —  '  would  it  were  worthier! '  — toward  the  testi- 
monial of  their  friends,  with  a  feeling  so  well  expressed  in  the  admo- 
nitions of  an  old  but  unknown  English  poet,  which,  if  he  has  never 
happened  to  see  it,  '  Warrington '  will  value  more  highly  than  the 
slight  token  of  my  regard  that  accompanies  it. 

'  Thougli  Rmall  thy  gift  may  seem  to  be, 
WitbhoW  it  not;  for  like  the  iiight, 
By  countless  lUHe  stars  made  bright, 
Thy  offering,  joined  to  thousands  more, 
May  brighten  dwellings  dark  before.'  " 

From  Hon.  G.  F.  Hoar  :  — 

"I  remember  with  great  pleasure  and  gratitude  Mr.  Robinson's 
early  labors  and  sacrifices  to  the  cause  of  humanity,  freedom,  and 
purity,  his  pleasant  wit,  and  lofty  scorn  for  all  charlatanism  and 
impostors,  whatever  their  position  or  pretences." 

And  others,  no  less  gratifying,  from  friends  far  and 
near :  — 

"I  make  my  little  contribution  to  you  as  a  part  of  the  debt  the 
republic  owes  you." 

"  You  are  of  that  class  of  men  who  build  up  others,  and  not  your- 
self; who  furnish  the  ideas  which  make  the  capital  in  trade  of  many 
politicians." 

"  '  Warrington  '  has  become  a  household  word  in  Massachusetts." 
"  Enclosed  is  my  chock ;  and  say  to  Mr.  Ilobinson  that  this  is  only  a 
part  of  what  is  due  from  all  such  as  myself  for  his  long  writing  and 
unpaid  labors  in  years  gone  by  in  the  cause  of  right." 

"  If  I  could  multiply  my  subscription  an  hundred-fold,  it  would 
not  worthily  represent  the  affectionate  esteem  in  which  I  hold  his 
great  services  to  many  a  struggling  cause,  and  for  that  sturdy  iiule- 
pendonce  which  has  made  his  voice  not  merely  the  echo  of  accepted 
opinion,  but  a  trumpet-call  forward." 

Poems  on  the  occasion  were  written  hy  F.  B.  Sanborn  and 
B.  P.  Shillabcr  ("Mrs.  Partington ") .  An  address  was  read 
by  F.  W.  Bird,  to  which  "  Warrington  ' '  responded,  saying,  — 

"  I  can  hardly  find  words  in  which  to  make  reply  to  the  many 
compliments  which  have  boon  extended  to  me  this  evening,  an<l 
adequately  to  express  my  gratitude  for  the  many  kind  acts  and  sub- 


148  MEMOIR  OF 

stantial  gifts  of  which  I  have  been  the  recipient.  I  appreciate  fully, 
however,  the  kindness  which  has  prompted  them,  and  feel  deeplj% 
also,  your  approval  of  my  course.  I  do  not  think  that  I  deserve  all 
that  has  been  said  in  Mr.  Bird's  address.  His  words,  however, 
brought  to  mind  more  forcibly  than  ever  the  long  feeling  of  fellow- 
ship which  has  existed  between  us  during  so  many  years ;  and  he 
could  indulge  in  a  little  congratulation.  I  desire  to  thank  him, 
and  to  convey  to  him  personally,  as  the  oldest  and  most  intimate  of 
my  political  associates,  and  to  convey  to  all  my  friends  besides,  my 
deep  and  heartfelt  thanks  for  this  complimentary  expression  of  their 
friendship.  I  am  rejoiced  to  see  so  many  here  to-night,  —  some,  too, 
with  whom  I  have  had  variances ;  and  I  can  only,  in  conclusion, 
assure  them  all  of  the  deep  obligation  I,  and  my  family  also,  feel 
towards  them." 

Mr.  Robinson's  spirits  were  much  cheered  hy  this  evidence 
of  the  affection  of  his  friends,  and  for  a  few  weeks  he  was 
quite  himself  again.  But  the  blow  had  been  struck  too  deep. 
As  he  expressed  it,  he  had  weathered  the  storm  of  last 
year's  defeat ;  but  he  felt  the  shake  of  it  in  his  timbers  yet. 
He  was  urged  to  become  again  a  candidate  for  the  office  of 
clerk  of  the  House  by  some  of  his  friends  who  were  anxious 
to  reinstate  him  ;  but,  though  assured  that  he  had  a  fair  show 
for  election,  he  peremptorily  declined,  not  feeling  able  to 
enter  the  contest,  or  go  all  over  the  ground  again.  It  was 
thought  that  a  long  sea-voyage,  and  an  entire  change  of 
scene,  would  be  the  best  thing  to  recuperate  his  health  and 
spirits.  Accordingly,  he  engaged  passage  for  himself,  his 
wife,  and  his  son,  on  board  the  steamship  "  Parthia,"  which 
sailed  for  Liverpool  Jan.  31,  1874. 


II 


"WARRINGTON:'  149 


CHAPTER    IX. 
THE  SUCCESSFUL  ]VIAN. 

[1874-1876.] 

"  The  day  ia  short,  and  the  work  is  great ;  but  the  laborers  are  idle,  though  the 
reward  be  great,  and  the  Master  of  the  work  presses.  It  is  not  incumbent  upon 
thee  to  complete  the  work;  but  thou  must  not,  therefore,  cease  from  it.  If  thou 
hast  worked  much,  great  shall  be  tliy  reward;  for  the  Master  who  employed  thee 
is  faithful  in  his  payment.  But  know  that  the  true  reward  is  not  of  this  world."  — 
Talmud. 

Ix  "  Warrington's"  Letters  from  Abroad  in  1874  will  be 
found  his  impressions  of  foreign  life.  He  wrote  veiy  little 
during  his  absence,  complete  rest  from  his  pen  having  been 
enjoined  upon  him  by  his  friends.  He  carried  letters  of  in- 
troduction to  diplomates  and  distinguished  persons  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent,  but  (with  one  exception)  did  not 
present  them,  preferring  to  see  the  people  with  his  own  eyes, 
and  to  follow  his  own  idea  of  sight-seeing.  In  London 
his  party  occupied  lodgings  on  Craven  Street,  within  walking- 
distance  of  the  Strand  and  Fleet  Street,  the  Temple,  and  the 
Inns  of  Court.  When  not  driving  to  places  of  note  in  a 
Hansom  cab. — that  "London  institution,"  as  Mr.  Sumner 
called  it,  which,  for  a  shilling  and  sixpence,  carries  the  sight- 
seer all  over  the  vast  city,  —  he  delighted  to  follow  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Dickens  and  Thackeray,  and  locate  their  imaginary 
characters.  AVith  George  Warrington  he  threaded  the 
Inner  Temple  :  he  found  Dombe}-  and  Son  on  Cheapside ; 
traced  the  footsteps  of  Samuel  Johnson  along  the  Strand, 
and,  in  memory  of  the  great  lexicographer,  lunched  at  the 
chop-houses,  and  dined  at  the  Bite  Tavern.     He  was  very 


150  MEMOIR  OF 

fond  of  London,  which  seemed  to  him  like  an  old  home 
again  revisited.  London  is  veiy  homelike  to  an  American  : 
in  many  respects  it  is  better  than  home,  particularl}'  to  an 
invalid.  Personal  comfort,  the  fact  that  one  must  eat  and 
sleep,  is  everj'where  recognized.  "  More  servants  wait  on 
man  than  he'll  take  notice  of."  Ich  dien  seems  written  in 
ever}'  department  which  caters  to  the  stranger  ;  and  the  neat- 
handed  English  serving-maid,  'Elizabeth  or  Salh',  is  found 
everywhere.  Mr.  Robinson  preferred  London  and  the  honest 
stabilit}'  of  the  English  people  —  "whose  3'es,"  he  said, 
"means  yes,  and  whose  no  means  no  " — to  the  Parisians 
and  their  cit}',  which,  though  wonderfully  attractive,  seemed 
showy  and  insincere.  "London  and  Paris  are  enough," 
wrote  Mr.  Sumner  to  him  on  his  departure.  But  he  went 
farther,  —  down  into  Italy,  whose  repose  and  interest  he 
enjoj'ed  to  the  full ;  to  Carlsbad  in  Bohemia,  to  drink  its 
waters  in  his  vain  search  for  health ;  and  back,  bj'  way  of 
Switzerland  and  the  Rhine,  to  London  again.  While  in 
Paris,  in  March,  the  news  came  to  him  of  Mr.  Sumner's 
death.  He  was  very  much  prostrated  by  this  sad  event, 
and  sorrowed  deeply  with  the  country'  in  the  loss  of  this 
great  and  good  leader  of  the  people.  His  solicitude  at  the 
state  of  affairs  at  home  was  also  increased  thereb}',  and  he 
found  himself  unable  to  keep  from  devising  modes  of  politi- 
cal action.  He  said  at  this  date  that  it  was  no  use  for  his 
friends  to  send  him  out  of  the  country  to  rest  from  political 
labor ;  for  his  head  was  full  of  politics  all  the  time  :  he  had 
studied  the  situation,  planned  the  coming  campaign,  and 
might  as  well  be  at  home,  writing  it  out.  For  this  reason  he 
did  not  receive  the  expected  benefit  from  his  foreign  tour. 
He  Avas  a  student  of  men  and  politics  ;  but  his  country-  and 
her  needs  were  his  first  thought,  abroad  as  well  as  at  home.^ 


1  This  is  shown  by  his  letters.  There  is  no  hiatus  between  the  last 
"Warrington"  letter  written  before  leaving  home  ami  the  first  one 
written  after  his  return.  The  thread  of  political  action  is  taken  np 
just  where  it  was  left;  and  the  letter  of  Oct.  27  (less  than  two  weeks 
after  his  return)  grasps  the  whole  aspect  of  political  affairs. 


"WARRINGTON."  151 

He   had    studied   and    planned    the   whole   fall    campaign. 

Parties  and  their  movements  were  to  him  like  chess-men 
advancing  upon  the  board.  He  knew  when  it  was  time  to 
call  "Check,"  and  did  not  hesitate  (as  of  old)  to  lose  a 
pawn,  and  capture  a  castle. 

Some  friends  were  disappointed  at  the  meagreness  of  his 
letters  concerning  foreign  countries.  But  he  was  one  who 
must  write  about  the  thing  which  to  him  was  of  the  most 
importance  ;  and  Europe  was  found  wanting  in  the  balance 
when  weighed  against  the  aff:\irs  of  his  own  countrj'.  Writ- 
ing from  Carlsbad  to  his  friend  G-.  H.  Monroe,  he  said  of  his 
health,  — 

"I  suppose  I  am  better  physietilly,  at  any  rate;  though  whether 
the  mineral  waters  have  done  me  any  good,  I  do  not  feel  sure.  Per- 
haps it  is  the  repose  and  regimen.  But  I  have  never  been  free  of  the 
feeling  tliat  I  ought  to  be  at  work,  more  or  less.  And  yet  I  dou't  feel 
up  to  a  full  day's  work  six  times  a  weelc.  Somebody  ought  to  give  me 
an  office:  even  a  sinecure  would  be  belter  than  nothing.  But,  after 
.all,  what  can  such  a  heretic  and  mischief-maker  as  I  am  expect?  " 

He  was  absent  eight  months,  and  returned  b}-  the  Canard 
steamship  "Atlas,"  which  sailed  Oct.  1.  The  passage 
home  was  made  very  sad  by  an  unfortunate  accident  which 
happened  to  one  of  the  passengers,  —  the  Rev.  George  D. 
Miles  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  church  of  Taunton.  Mr. 
Miles  occupied  the  state-room  adjoining  Mr.  Robinson's. 
In  getting  out  of  his  berth  (the  upper  one),  the  brass  rod  b}- 
which  he  \ras  holding  gave  way  ;  and  he  fell  heavily  upon 
the  back  of  his  head,  inflicting  a  severe  wound.  He  suf- 
fered great  pain,  and  was  confined  to  his  berth  the  remaining 
ten  days  of  the  vo^-age.  On  the  arrival  of  the  "Atlas"  at 
Boston,  he  was  carried  to  the  Massachusetts  General  Hos- 
pital, where  he  died.  At  the  post-mortem  examination,  it  was 
discovered  that  his  neck  was  broken  at  the  time  of  the  fall. 
He  had  lived  nineteen  or  twenty-  days  in  that  condition. 

Mr.  Robinson's  personal  appearance  on  his  return  was 
very  disappointing  to  his  friends,  who  had  hoped  to  see 
a   marked    improvement.       His  disease  had  steadily'  made 


152 


MEMOIR  OF 


progress ;  and,  though  temporarily  benefited  by  the  change 
and  rest,  they  sadly  agreed  that  he  was  really  no  better. 
At  the  Bird-Club  reception,  given  to  welcome  him  on 
his  return,  he  read  sorrow  and  disappointment  in  the 
faces  of  the  friends  gathered  there  hoping  to  find  the 
"Warrington"  of  old.^  Though  gratified  at  their  hearty 
greetings,  he  felt,  as  he  expressed  it,  that  the  money  had 
been  thrown  away  upon  him,  since  he  had  not  fulfilled 
the  just  expectation  of  those  who  had  sent  him  awa}'  to 
recuperate  and  be  ready  to  fight  their  battles  again.  He 
resumed  his  letters  in  "The  Springfield  Republican,"  and 
wrote  for  "The  Boston  Daily  News"  weekly  letters  and 
articles.  This  continual  draining  of  brain-force  was  too 
mucli  for  him.  He  wrote  with  all  his  old  vigor,  and  it  re- 
acted upon  his  frail  body.  On  the  evening  of  Jan.  20,  1875, 
after  writing  an  article  (for  "The  News")  on  Mr.  Dawes,^ 
he  was  taken  sick,  not  with  any  new  phase  of  his  disease,  or 
paralysis,  or  any  thing  of  the  sort,  but  with  an  increased 
weakness  and  pressure  upon  the  brain  caused  by  overwork. 


1  The  following  gentlemen  were  present.    They  are  cojiied  from  the 
list  as  he  wrote  it  on  liis  return  home. 


F.  W.  Bud. 


W.  S.  Kobinson. 
Gov.  Talbot. 

B.  F.  Robinson. 
Geo.  H.  Monroe. 
A.  W.  Beard. 
E.  L.  Pierce. 

Col.  Heni-y  Walker. 

E.  P.  Eobinson. 

Henry  D.  Hyde. 

J.  RI.  S.  Williams  (came  in). 

Eobt.  T.  Davis. 

Saml.  Bowles. 

Asa  P.  Potter. 

Elizur  Wright. 

C.  S.  Wasson. 
Win.  L.  Burt. 

J.  M.  W.  Yerriuton. 
Chas.  A.  Phelps. 


Prof.  Bonamy  Price  of  Oxford. 

E.  R.  Hoar. 

Edw.  Atkinson. 

Adin  Thayer. 

Dr.  O.  Martin. 

Thos.  Drew. 

J.  Botume,  Jr. 

Dr.  Geo.  B.  Lorlng. 

M.  F.  Dickinson,  Jr. 

Chas.  G.  Davis. 

Wm.  H.  Fox. 

P.  B.  Sanborn. 

C.  A.  B.  Shepard, 

Charley  Field. 

R.  C.  Dimham. 

Robt.  O.  Fuller  (Cambridge). 

J.  A.  Lane. 

Willard  Phillips. 

A.  G.  Brown. 


Dr.  Estes  Howe. 


2  See  Brief  Biographies. 


''WARRINGTON."  153 

This  illness  was  exaggerated.  He  was  reported  to  be  in  a 
d3'ing  condition,  and  obituaries  were  written  for  the  news- 
papers. When  in  a  few  da3's  he  was  able  to  read  again,  he 
had  the  rare  satisfaction  (he  said)  of  reading  his  own  obitua- 
ries, and  enjoying  the  good  things  said  about  himself.  The 
one  which  follows,  written  by  James  Redpath,  his  neighbor 
and  friend,  touched  him  deepl}- ;  and  he  sent  a  letter  of 
thanks,  closing  thus  :  "I  am  almost  sorry  I  am  not  dead,  if, 
d3ing,  I  might  merit  such  words  ;  but  I'll  do  as  much  for  30U 
some  time." 

"  WARRINGTON." 

"William  S.  Eobinson  is  lying  on  his  death-bed."  This  was  the 
sad  news  that  greeted  me  last  night.  When  his  pulse  sliail  be  stilled, 
one  of  the  bravest  and  truest  hearts  of  our  generation  shall  have 
ceased  to  beat.  His  death  will  be  a  public  calamity.  Always  rare, 
his  type  is  daily  becoming  rarer,  if  not  in  our  scientific  and  literary, 
without  doubt  in  our  political  life.  For  he  had  convictions,  and  he 
had  courage ;  and  without  the  breastwork  of  an  assured  social  posi- 
tion or  of  an  independent  fortune,  and  without  a  band  of  devoted 
followers  pledged  and  proud  to  fight  his  battles,  he  was  as  brave  in 
the  advocacy  of  liis  views,  and  as  independent  in  his  criticisms  of 
politicians,  as  Wendell  Phillips,  or  Gerritt  Smith,  or  Gen.  Duller.  He 
feared  neither  majorities  nor  rank.  He  neither  quailed  before  the 
wild  beasts  of  public  life;  nor,  like  the  lion  that  he  was,  did  he  "  ever 
count  the  number  of  the  sheep  in  the  fold  "  when  his  conscience  told 

him  to  attack  it. 

» 

I  have  always  regarded  him  —  his  circumstances  taken  into  account 
—  as  the  bravest  public  man  in  Xew  England,  without  any  exception, 
and  without  disparaging  the  other  noble  gentlemen  who  have  fought 
for  great  principles  and  the  outcast  classes  in  this  State.  But  it  needs 
simply  a  brave  spirit,  with  earnest  convictions,  to  steel  one's  self  against 
public  ui)inii)n,  when  it  is  believed  to  be  Avrong,  provided  one's  own 
bread  and  butter  is  safe  from  its  attack.  But  when  a  man  is  poor, 
and  has  a  family  depending  upon  liis  weekly  earnings  for  support; 
when  liis  position  is  constantly  placed  in  peril  by  party  action,  and  is 
one  of  the  influences  which  politicians  strive  to  control,  — it  needs  the 
heart  of  a  hero  to  criticise  without  fear  and  without  concealment, 
ami  without  equivocation  in  sense  or  phrase,  the  errors  of  the  party, 
and  the  motiv(!s  of  its  leaders.  Not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  has 
this  sort  of  pluck.  "Warrington's"  public  life  is  a  long  and  un- 
broken record  of  this  spirit.  He  never  was  bribed  to  be  silent;  he 
never  feared  to  be  fearless.     He  smote  wherever  he  believed  that  a 


154  MEMOIR  OF 

punishment  was  due,  I  have  nowhere  found  a  similar  career  in  the 
biograpliies  of  public  men ;  and  I  have  never  yet  looked  into  the  eyes 
of  any  officeholder  who  was  worthy  to  be  named  with  him. 

In  praising  this  heroic  trait,  I  do  not  intend  to  accord  to  him 
either  a  spirit  of  judicial  impartiality,  or  to  extol  his  methods,  or  to 
say  Amen  to  his  judgments.  Like  all  born  fighters,  he  sometimes 
gave  cruel  blows,  and  hurt  men  as  disinterested  as  himself.  I  knew 
him  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  and  we  had  both  public  and  private 
disputations  without  number :  but  I  never  found  this  man  intolerant 
to  any  one  in  whose  sincerity  he  had  belief;  nor,  while  always  earnest 
to  the  verge  or  beyond  the  limit  of  bluntness,  did  he  ever  impatiently 
repel  any  candid  presentation  of  opposing  views.  He  hated  shams 
with  the  fierceness  of  Carlyle.  He  detested  hypocrisy  with  so  intense 
a  bitterness,  that  it  often  led  him  to  strike  without  mercy  whoever 
was  found  even  near  any  one  wliom  lie  believed  to  be  insincere ;  but 
he  never  failed  to  honor  both  in  public  and  private,  and  without 
regard  to  their  creed,  the  men  of  his  own  type  of  character. 

I  shall  always  recall  with  pleasure  the  lively  conversations  I  have 
heard  and  taken  part  in  between  Gilbert  (now  Bishop)  Haven  and 
Mr.  Robinson.  Whether  theology  or  politics  were  the  subjects, 
there  were  usually  not  two,  but  three,  sides  to  the  debate.  The  inter- 
views were  battles.  If  we  happened  to  agree  on  a  measure,  we  were 
sure  to  disagree  about  men.  Once  only,  the  fiery  bishop  and  the  fiery 
clerk  overstepped  the  bounds  of  imijersonal  statements.  I  feared 
that  it  would  sever  their  long  and  pleasant  friendship,  and  the  provo- 
cation on  both  sides  was  amply  sufficient;  but,  to  the  credit  of  both 
of  these  sincere  and  strong  men,  I  found  it  an  easy  task  to  renew 
their  good  feeling.  I  mention  these  talks  to  refute  the  opinion,  so 
generally  held,  that  Mr.  Robinson  was  an  intolerant  man;  which  was 
as  unjust  as  it  would  be  to  accuse  a  soldier  of  intolerance  when  firing 
against  the  enemy.  He  believed  in  fighting,  and  he  fought  well;  and 
during  the  fight  be  was  deaf  to  counsel,  as  a  warrior  oiight  to  be.  But 
before  it,  and  after  it,  he  was  always  a  sincere  and  open-minded  man. 

I  recall  with  no  little  satisfaction  the  fact,  that  while,  during  the 
first  Butler  campaign,  we  both  wrote  more  than  any  other  two  writ- 
ers on  the  iDress  who  were  not  professional  journalists,  and  had  many 
private  controversies  as  well,  no  word  passed  to  mar  for  one  moment 
the  long-continued  kindliness  of  our  personal  friendship.  More  than 
any  one  man,  he  defeated  Butler;  and  what  was  his  reward  ?  No  one 
ever  spoke  of  hlin  as  governor;  and,  when  Butler's  friends  rallied  to 
defeat  him  for  clerk,  the  governor-elect  did  not  utter  one  word  in  his 
behalf.  He  told  me  this  incident,  and  said,  that,  as  far  as  he  knew, 
I  was  the  only  person,  who  had  any  influence  whatever,  who  had 
gone  out  of  his  way  to  protect  him.  And  I  was  on  the  opposite  side. 
Well,  it  is  like  aristocracies  everywhere:  they  grasp  the  prize,  and 


"WARRINGTON."  155 

neglect  the  soldiers  who  fought  their  way  to  it,  whenever  they  dare. 
The  Hoars  get  the  credit;  the  Washburns  get  the  ofiBces;  the  Robin- 
sons get  —  the  blows.  It  will  be  different  by  and  by,  I  hope,  when 
the  people  come  to  their  own.  Let  me  add  one  word  about  Mr.  Rob- 
inson iu  his  family.  He  has  been  my  neighbor  for  ten  years  or 
moi"e.  His  private  life  was  as  beautiful  as  his  public  life  was  brave. 
As  husband  and  as  father,  he  was  above  reproach.  No  scandal  ever 
blighted  his  name,  nor  ever  cast  even  a  passing  shadow  over  it. 

Rough,  brave,  and  honest  warrior,  true  and  sincere  and  tender 
friend,  you  have  fought  the  good  fight  well ;  the  world  is  better  for 
your  life  and  your  sword ;  and  among  your  saddest  survivors  will  be 
many  of  us  whom  you  smote  with  a  valiant  and  terrible  stroke  in 
your  days  of  battle.     Farewell !  Jajies  Redpath.! 

Boston,  Jan.  23, 1875. 

"'Warrington's'  Manual  of  Parliamentar}'  Law "- was 
issued  early  in  1875.  He  had  been  engaged  upon  this  work 
for  several  years,  and  had  rewritten  it  several  times,  each 
time  condensing  it,  until  it  was  at  least  one-third  smaller 
than  the  original  manuscript.  He  read  the  first  proof  of 
this  book  to  the  members  of  his  fiimily,  re-reading  those 
portions  wliicli  would  seem  obscure  to  persons  not  accustomed 
to  the  technicalities  of  parliameutar}'  law  ;  remarking  at  the 
time,  jocoscl}-,  that  he  wanted  to  adapt  the  book  to  people  of 
the  meanest  capacity.  Mr.  Sumner,  speaking  of  it  to  the 
author,  said,  "It  contains  the  cube  root  of  parliamentary 
law."  It  was  the  aim  of  the  author  to  give  the  principle, 
and  not  the  details  of  practice  ;  the  "cube  root,"  rather  than 
tlie  "  rule  of  tlu'ce  ;  "  and  to  place  his  readers  on  eld  Count 
Gurowski's  platform,  who  said,  when  a  trivial  matter  was 
explained  to  him,  "  /,  too.,  know  somctliing."  Had  this  book 
l)e('n  more  minute  and  verbose,  it  probably  would  have  sold 

1  In  a  letter  written  by  INI r.  Iledpath  after  "  Warrington's  "  death, 
lie  said  of  this  obituary,  "I  am  glad  he  liked  it.  I  bad  long  wanted  a 
cliance  to  say  what  I  tlion  wrote;  but  no  opportunity  appeared.  I 
wrote  it  with  tears  in  my  eyes.  I  was  tboroiigbly  moved.  It  was 
kept  in  type  several  days,  in  the  expccta'tion  tliat  be  would  die  soon. 
At  last,  wlien  tlie  announcement  was  made  that  lie  would  recover,  tlio 
editors  insisted  on  publishing  it  anyhow,  which  they  did,  much  to  my 
surprise." 

2  Published  by  Lee  &  Shepard,  Boston. 


156  MEMOIR  OF 

better ;  but  as  it  contains  the  principle  of  tlie  law  of 
assemblies,  and  principles  are  undying,  it  may  sell  better 
after  ten  years'  time  than  at  present.  For  the  result  of  what 
he  did,  "Warrington"  looked,  not  to  the  present,  but  to 
"another  da}' after  to-day."  In  answer  to  some  criticism 
on  the  lack  of  detail  in  the  Manual,  he  wrote,  — 

"I  will  not  make  a  book  of  padding,  sell  it  never  so  well;  though  I 
should  be  glad  to  improve  this  one,  and  probably  could,  in  some 
respects.  Some  people  think  nothing  is  wise  that  does  not  confirm 
and  strengthen  their  own  ignorance.  JSTimporte.  George  F.  Hoar  says 
I  once  gave  him  the  gist  of  parliamentary  law:  'Never  put  an  ass  in 
the  chair;  "  and  an  ass  is  only  a  greater  one  for  knowing  the  minutice 
of  parliamentary  law,  as  the  pettifogger  is  the  greatest  nuisance  iu 
the  courts,  and  the  quack  in  medicine  and  iu  the  pulpit.  I  don't 
think  I  shall  do  much  more  to  the  Manual  than  to  attach  a  few  forms. 
If  the  book  is  of  any  use  to  the  people,  it  is  to  teach  them  principles, 
and  how  to  act  for  themselves ;  not  to  perplex  them  with  forms  on 
matters  of  little  or  no  importance." 

In  the  Preface  he  says,  — - 

"  The  purpose  of  this  Manual  is  to  furnish  to  officers  and  members 
of  legislative  and  other  deliberative  assemblies,  and  to  societies  of  all 
kinds,  a  concise  and  practical  guide  in  what  is  called  '  Parliamentary 
Law.'  •  .  .  But  in  a  country  and  in  states  governed  by  written  consti- 
tutions, and  where  deliberative  bodies  are  controlled  by  iniunnerable 
statutes  and  j-ules,  often  to  the  last  degree  unnecessary  and  useless 
for  the  end  they  profess  to  subserve,  this  '  law  '  is  far  less  important. 
It  has  been  customary  to  say  that  'rules'  are  for  the  protection 
of  minorities.  A  better  definition  is,  that  they  are  for  the  speedy,  fair, 
and  orderly  transaction  of  business  according  to  the  will  of  the  ma- 
jority. 

"  This  work,  at  any  rate,  is  written  upon  the  assumption  that 
members  of  societies,  orders,  municipal  bodies,  and  legislatures,  are 
on  an  equality.  If,  to  use  the  language  of  the  Massachusetts  Consti- 
tution (Article  IX.  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights),  'all  elections  ought 
to  be  free,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Commonwealth  .  .  .  have 
an  equal  right  to  elect  officers,  and  to  be  elected,  for  public  employ- 
ments,' it  seems  to  follow  that  all  members  of  legislative  and  delib- 
erative bodies  otight  to  be  sii<bstantially  upon  an  equality ;  at  any  rate, 
that  the  minimum,  and  not  the  maximum,  of  power  and  influence 
ought  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  committees  and  presiding  officers. 
This  Manual  is  prepared  upon  that  theory.  The  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives at  Washington  has  tied  itself  up  with  rules,  so  that  its 


''WARRINGTON."  157 

speaker,  who  should  be  its  servant,  and  of  little  if  any  more  impor- 
tance t])aii  any  other  member,  is,  in  reality,  the  second  or  third  officer 
of  the  fjoi-ermnent  Itarlf.  Probably  in  a  few  years,  when  Congress  shall 
have  relinquished  the  attempt  to  make  laws,  not  only  for  the  National 
Government,  bat  for  states,  cities,  towns,  and  private  corporations, 
or  when  it  shall  have  put  into  hands  of  other  bodies  the  duty  of 
taking  evidence  and  collecting  facts  on  which  to  proceed  in  the 
making  of  statutes,  tlie  old  practice  will  be  resumed. 

"I  have  deemed  it  unnecessary,  and  even  a  hiuderance,  to  jjersons 
having  occasion  to  iise  a  book  like  this,  to  make  a  large  volume.  It 
has  cost  me  a  good  deal  of  time  and  labor  to  make  it  small  enough. 
But,  with  tlie  object  I  have  already  indicated,  the  plan  on  which  it 
has  been  prepared  has  seemed  to  me  a  tolerably  good  one.  It  is  a 
mixture  of  rule,  advice,  and  '  parliamentary '  principle,  founded  on  the 
experience  and  the  obvious  necessities  of  bodies  governed  by  the  'par- 
liamentary law.'  As  everybody  knows,  an  assembly  may,  if  it  pleases, 
make  rules  for  itself  diametrically  opposed  to  tills  law  or  principle. 
Those  'rules'  are  innumerable;  and  it  is  of  no  practical  use  to  try  to 
classify,  illustrate,  or  mention  tliem.  Such  of  them  as  are  based  on 
correct  principles  will  be  found  here.  But,  for  the  largest  part,  this 
book  seeks  to  give  the  reasons  for  the  ordinary  and  the  best  practice 
of  the  best  ordered  bodies.  Given  the  reason.'*,  and  the  practice  ad- 
justs itself;  the  assembly  transacts  its  work  speedily,  and  with  proper 
regard  to  the  rights  of  all;  and  officers  are  prepared  to  meet  objec- 
tions, and  to  answer  questions  with  little  or  no  hesitation.  Without 
the  reasons,  members  and  officers  have  great  difficulty  in  interpret- 
hig  the  rules,  and  in  coming  to  just  results  without  troublesome 
delays. 

"  I  wish  only  to  say,  in  concluding  this  Preface,  what  I  liave  in  the 
work  itself  tried  to  make  clear,  that,  wherever  I  have  left  it  in  doubt 
whetlier  the  principle  laid  down  may  be  considered  authoritative,  it 
should,  if  approved,  be  provided  for  by  rule.  It  is,  of  course,  under- 
stood that  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  rule  whenever  the  principle  is 
departed  from.  The  rule  (/overns ;  but,  if  the  rule  be  obscure  or  contra- 
dictory, let  it  be  tried  by  the  principle.^' 

This  little  volume  is  the  only  book  "Warrington"  has 
left  which  is  at  all  indicative  of  the  scope  of  his  mind. 
During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  had  contemplated  several 
books,  —  among  them  one  on  the  "■  Life  and  Times  of  Charles 
Sumner,"  containing,  also,  his  own  reminiscences  of  political 
life,  —  and  had  made  notes,  to  some  extent,  preparator}^ 
to  a  book  on  the  Woman  Question.     He  had  thought  of  a 


158  MEMOIR  OF 

book  of  selections  from  his  published  v/ritings,  to  be  called 
"Pen-Portraits,"  or  something  of  that  sort;  and,  while  at 
Northampton,  wrote  to  his  wife  to  look  over  his  scrap-books, 
arid  mark  an}'  thing  she  thought  particularl}-  good.  Nothing 
had  been  done  b}'  him,  however,  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

As  soon  as  possible,  "  Warrington  "  resumed  his  pen,  and 
wrote  for  the  press  at  intervals  until  June  (1875),  when  a 
few  of  his  friends,  becoming  alarmed,  insisted  on  his  again 
taking  absolute  rest  from  all  work.  It  was  thought  best 
that  he  should  leave  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  since  there 
would  be  loss  inducement  to  write  if  away  from  customary 
scenes.  Pursuing  the  advice  of  Mr.  Bird  and  others,  he 
went  in  June  to  a  water-cure  at  Northampton,  kept  by  Dr. 
Denniston.  There  he  staid  over  four  months,  a  long  and 
lonel}'  exile  from  his  friends,  his  home  and  family,  his 
books  and  the  pursuits  congenial  to  him,  hoping  to  be  bene- 
fited. Before  leaving  home,  he  had  said,  that,  if  he  could 
know  he  should  be  no  better,  he  would  not  go  awaj',  but 
would  work  so  far  as  his  strength  would  allow,  and  die  in 
harness.  "Can  it  be,"  he  said,  looking  around  his  library, 
"  that  I  am  to  leave  all  this  work  undone?"  From  North- 
ampton he  wrote,  — 

"  I  am  about  satisfied  that  it  will  not  be  profitable  for  me  to  stay 
here  much  longer.  There  seems  no  special  change  in  me,  and  I  feel 
much  better  contented  at  home.  The  doctor  has  some  excellent  ideas ; 
but  he  don't  know  every  thing,  nor  nuich  about  my  case.  I  cannot 
stay  a  great  while  without  signs  of  permanent  improvement.  This 
loneliness  is  pretty  trying  to  one  who  likes  intelligent  conversation 
and  intercourse  so  well  as  I  do.  What  made  me  come  here?  I  fear 
I  always  do  the  wrong  thing.  What  au  ass  is  a  sick  man  to  leave 
home!  It  is  too  bad  to  lose  all  this  summer  at  home,  and  by  the 
sea-shore  at  Manomet,  with  the  possibility,  besides,  of  at  least 
earning  my  living,  which  I  could  easily  do  if  I  were  at  home,  and 
under  whip  and  spur  of  coercion,  or  some  other  stimulus  or  induce- 
ment. I  almost  wish  I  could  get  into  the  legislature  this  winter.  I 
often  think,  that  after  I  was  knocked  out  of  the  procession  in  Janu- 
ary, ISTo,  I  ought  to  have  fought  my  way  back,  and  that  1  shall  have 
to.  Had  I  not  better  plunge  into  politics,  and  write  again,  and  so 
plunge  out  of  myself?  Politics  bother  me  continually.  It  is  of  no 
use  to  say  they  must  not.     I  am  as  much  in  the  midst  of  them  as  if 


"WARRINGTON."  159 

at  home ;  and,  deterred  as  I  am  from  writing  on  them,  they  seethe  in 
my  brain  continually." 

In  October  he  wrote,  — 

"I  ought  not  to  write  so  much;  but  I  am  choclc-full  of  politics. 
Sometimes,  and  not  seldom,  I  wish  the  Democrats  would  elect  me,  or 
nominate  me  for  the  Senate  or  House,  so  I  could  be  useful  again. 
What  is  the  use  of  dragging  along  in  my  present  way,  lazy,  because  I 
I  have  no  coivjenial  occupation?  I  get  low-spirited,  because  I  know  I 
am  a  good  ijolitician  and  legislator,  and  am  good  for  little  else.  They 
knocked  me  out  of  my  '  sphere,'  and  I  fear  I  made  a  mistake  in  not 
immediately  fighting  to  get  back.  Is  it  too  late  now?  God  knows, 
if  there  ever  was  a  man  of  small  ambition,  and  apt  for  usefulness,  it 
is  your  servant  and  friend.     My  brain  is  active  enough  :  I  fear  it  has 

'  Fretted  the  pigmy  body  to  decay, 
And  o'er-iiiformed  tlie  tenement  of  clay.' 

My  body  is  the  trouble,  and  is  '  servile  to  all  the  skyey  influences.' 
The  mind  is  the  lord  of  the  body,  and,  in  turn,  is  enslaved  by  it;  so 
that  it  is  tit  for  tat.  .  .  .  You  say  you  have  reached  Nirva?ia.  If  you 
have  reached  Nirva/ia,  J  have  gone  beyond."  ^ 

He  came  home  from  Northampton  in  October.  Happy 
in  being  among  his  friends  again,  for  a  time  he  seemed  to 
rally ;  but  again  the  old  story,  told  so  many  times,  was 
repeated:  "Out  of  work;"  "No  place  for  me."  As  he 
said,  he  had  stepped  out  of  the  procession  :  it  had  closed  up, 
and  he  was  left  behind.  It  is  the  common  lot :  let  no  man 
think  he  will  be  exempt.  So  soon  is  a  sick  man  forgotten. 
Many  will  appreciate  his  feeling  of  being  left,  at  his  time  of 
life,  without  the  accustomed  task,  with  idle  hands,  an  empt3' 
purse,  and  fast-fading  powers.  At  this  date,  I  do  not  think 
he  could  have  been  saved ;  though,  under  the  spur  of  some 
easA'  and  congenial  employment,  his  life  might  have  been 
prolonged.  Surely  there  should  have  been  found  a  place 
for  this  servant  of  the  people,  this  writer  of  other  men's 
ideas  (as  he   modestl}'  styled   himself),   this   founder  of  a 

1  "  The  Rabat  who  hath  reached  Nirvana  says, '  I  await  the  appointed 
time  for  the  cessation  of  existence.  I  have  no  wish  to  live;  I  have  no 
wish  to  die.  Desire  is  extinct.'  "  —  Max  MiJLLEB:  Chips  from  a  German 
Workshop,  vol.  i.  p.  28o. 


160  MEMOIR  OF 

part}"  still  powerful,  —  some  place  where  he  could  have  felt 
at  ease,  pecuniarily  at  least,  for  the  few  days  that  were  jet 
left  to  him.  But  it  is  not  for  such  men  as  "  "Warrington  " 
to  grow  old  in  the  service,  and  retire  forgotten  upon 
the  pension-list:  they  go  "from  the  heat  of  battle,  and  in 
peace ;  "  their  labors  cease  at  noontide. 

He  went  to  the  State  House  a  few  times  during  the  winter, 
and  was  interested  in  legislative  matters.  He  was  solicited 
to  become  a  member  of  the  "  third  house,"  and  could  have 
named  his  own  price  for  such  services  ;  but  he  was  not  in  the 
market  for  that  sort  of  work.  He  read  the  newspapers,  or 
heard  them  read,  up  to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  took  a  keen 
interest  in  the  exposure  of  corruption  at  Washington,  and 
the  woman-suffrage  debates  in  the  Massachusetts  Senate. 
He  wrote  at  intervals  for  ' '  The  Republican  ; ' '  and  an  un- 
finished letter  was  published  after  his  death.  This  was  one 
of  his  best,  showing  how  clear  his  brain  was  when  free  from 
the  oppression  of  disease.  He  suffered  no  pain,  but  was 
weighed  down  b}-  a  continued  sleepiness.  He  would  drop 
asleep  in  the  middle  of  a  word  or  sentence,  and,  waking 
up,  would  continue  w'ithout  interrupting  the  context.  He 
conversed  on  philosophical  and  political  questions  to  the 
last.  One  of  the  last  books  he  opened  w-as  a  law-book, 
in  order  to  decide  some  question  of  judicial  proceedings. 
While  reading,  he  fell  asleep,  and  the  heavy  volume  dropped 
from  his  lap  :  it  was  picked  up,  and  held  for  him ;  and  he 
continued  his  research.  He  did  not  of  his  own  accord 
consult  doctors  ;  and,  though  he  listened  patiently  to  the 
manj-  methods  of  cure  prescribed  bj'  his  friends,  he  tried 
few  of  them.^  Heroic  treatment  was  advocated ;  but  he 
refused  to  be  experimented  upon,  remembering  the  doubtful 
result  of  such  treatment  upon  both  Mr.  Sumner  and  Mr. 
Wilson.  His  latest  opinion  of  what  the  closing  scenes  of 
a  sick  man's  life  should  be   is  well  expressed  in  Matthew 

1  The  look  of  pleased,  far-seeing  contemplation  -u'itli  -wliicli  lie  re- 
garded a  sanguine  friend  who  offered  a  new  scheme  of  cure  is  one  to 
be  remembered.    It  was  as  if  he  said,  "  What,  cuke  me  ! " 


' '  WARRING  TON. "  161 

Arnold's  poem,  "  A  Wish."     This  poem,  with  one  other,  he 
carried  in  his  pocket-book  for  manj-  years,  as  here  printed. 

A  WISH. 

I  ask  not  that  my  bed  of  death 

From  bands  of  greedy  heirs  be  free ; 
For  these  besiege  the  latest  breath 

Of  Fortune's  favored  sons,  not  me. 

I  ask  not  each  kind  soul  to  keep 

Tearless  when  of  my  death  he  hears : 
Let  those  who  will,  if  any,  weep; 

There  are  worse  plagues  on  earth  than  tears. 

I  ask  but  that  my  death  may  find 

The  freedom  to  my  life  denied ; 
Ask  but  the  folly  of  mankind 

Then,  then,  at  last,  to  quit  my  side. 

Spare  me  the  whispering,  crowded  room; 

The  friends  who  come  and  gape  and  go ; 
The  ceremonious  air  of  gloom,  — 

All  that  makes  death  a  hideous  show. 

Nor  bring,  to  see  me  cease  to  live, 
Some  doctor,  full  of  jjhrase  and  fame, 

To  shake  his  sapient  head,  and  give 
The  ill  he  cannot  cure  a  name. 

Nor  fetch,  to  take  the  accustomed  toll 

Of  the  poor  sinner  bound  for  death, 
His  brother-doctor  of  the  soul. 

To  canvass  with  official  breath 

The  future  and  its  viewless  things,  — 

That  undiscovered  mystery 
Which  one  who  feels  Death's  winnowing  wings 

Must  needs  read  clearer,  sure,  than  he. 

Bring  none  of  these ;  but  let  me  be, 

While  all  around  in  silence  lies, 
Moved  to  the  window  near,  and  see 

Once  more  before  my  dying  eyes. 

Bathed  in  the  sacred  dews  of  mom, 
The  wide,  aerial  landscape  spread, 


162  MEMOIR  OF 

The  world  which  was  ere  I  was  born, 
The  world  which  lasts  when  I  am  dead ; 

Which  never  was  the  friend  of  one, 

Nor  promised  love  it  could  not  give, 
But  lit  for  all  its  generous  sun, 

And  lived  itself,  and  made  us  live. 

There  let  me  gaze,  till  I  become 

In  soul  with  what  I  gaze  on  wed ; 
To  feel  the  universe  my  home ; 

To  have  before  my  mind  —  instead 

Of  the  sick-room,  the  mortal  strife, 

The  turmoil  for  a  little  breath  — 
The  pure,  eternal  course  of  life. 

Not  human  combatings  with  death. 

Thus  feeling,  gazing,  let  me  grow 

Composed,  refreshed,  ennobled,  clear; 

Then  willing  let  my  spirit  go 

To  work  or  wait  elsewhere  or  here. 

As  his  disease  advanced,  he  mourned  that  he  had  come  to 
the  end  of  all  his  labors  when  there  was  so  much  work  to  be 
done.  He  loved  life,  and  often  said,  "  This  life  is  so  good, 
that  it  seems  impossible  for  it  to  be  wholl}'  interrupted  by 
death."  He  was  not  one  who  talked  much  of  spiritual 
things.  He  had  small  belief  in  creeds,  in  schemes  of  salva- 
tion, or  in  modes  of  faith.  He  trusted  much  in  a  higher 
Power,  and  sought  to  abide  b}'  the  teachings  of  a  pure  con- 
science. He  had  not  cherished  an  active  belief  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul ;  being  too  busy,  and  too  happy  in 
the  things  of  this  world,  to  feel  any  dravriug  towards  another. 
He  could  have  said  with  John  Sterling,  "  I  tread  the  common 
road  into  the  great  darkness,  without  an}^  thought  of  fear, 
and  with  very  much  of  hope."  He  did  not  often  discuss 
the  subject :  it  rested  with  him  as  it  had  been  left  when  his 
little  boy  died ;  and  his  mind  was  seldom  led  to  it  by  any 
conversation.  It  was  a  heav}'  sorrow  to  those  about  him  to 
think  that  he  might  be  leaving  forever  all  the  acquirements 
of  life,  and  that  his  wisdom  was  to  become  as  notliing. 


"  WARRING  TON."  163 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death,  he  sat  one  day,  as  was  his 
wont,  before  his  open  fire,  in  a  meditative  posture,  with  his 
hands  at  rest.  His  wife  spoke  to  him ;  and  he  looked  up 
with  the  bright  smile  so  well  remembered  b}'  all  who  knew 
him,  and  said,  "It  is  curious  how  the  belief  in  the  immor- 
talit}'  of  the  soul  grows  upon  30U.  As  I  have  been  sitting 
here,  da^'  after  da}',  it  has  come  to  me  ;  and  I  am  sure  of  it,  — 
as  sure  of  it,  and  of  living  again,  as  I  am  that  I  am  here,  — 
more  sure  ;  for  I  don't  know  half  the  time  whether  I  am  here 
in  the  bod}'  or  not.  It  is  just  like  going  into  another  room, 
—  into  that  room"  (pointing  to  the  open  parlor-door  near 
him).  "Why,  this  world  and  the  next  are  joined  as  closel}' 
as  my  two  hands  "  (opening  them,  and  placing  them  together, 
one  above  the  other,  with  palms  reversed) .  "  There  they  are, 
no  break,  no  break  between,  no  gulf  to  pass.  I  feel  every 
day  like  one  who  walks  b}'  a  hedge,  and  is  looking  for  a  gate, 
a  gap  to  go  through,  to  walk  on  the  other  side."  After 
that,  the  subject  was  one  of  common  talk,  and  was  spoken  of 
in  the  midst  of  e very-day  affairs.  Frequeutl}',  when  he  was 
spoken  to,  he  would  look  up,  smile,  and  place  his  hands  as  I 
have  described,  sa3ing  onl}',  '''•No  break,  no  break."  God 
was  very  good  to  him.  He  had  tried  to  lead  the  people  to 
truth  and  right  in  this  life:  was  it  not  given  him,  in  some 
part,  to  lead  them  still  farther,  —  to  a  belief  in  the  life  beyond, 
towards  the  great  centre  of  Truth  and  Right  itself?  The 
desire  of  his  heart  was  to  help  his  kind,  and  lead  them  to 
better  things.  He  is  blessed  indeed,  who,  in  becoming  him- 
self assured  through  his  own  experience  and  insight  of  an 
immortal  life,  can  heli)  to  show  the  people  whom  he  loves 
that  this  world  is  l)ut  the  anteroom  to  the  life  beyond. 

The  hope  of  immortality,  of  a  continued  individualit}', 
is  so  vital  to  the  thinking  soul  as  it  progresses,  and  to  so 
few  is  it  given  to  "  grow  into  the  belief  "  as  "  "Warrington  " 
did,  that  for  the  sake  of  the  "  doubting  Thomases,"  the  con- 
scientious souls  who  must  see  the  heavens  open  before  they 
are  convinced,  I  have  waived  whatever  reluctance  I  have 
felt,  and  now  give  to  the  public  my  honored  husband's  expe- 


164  MEMOIR  OF 

rience.  Before  this  inner  gi'owth,  this  revelation,  came  to 
him,  he  was  troubled  at  the  thought  of  leaving  life,  and 
those  who  had  depended  upon  him ;  but,  in  the  near  vision 
of  the  future,  he  became  reconciled.  Like  an  overloaded 
ship,  he  was  trying  to  make  port  through  a  heavj'  and  trou- 
bled sea.  One  by  one,  the  burdens,  the  cares,  the  ambitions 
of  life  were  dropped  overboard.  The  last  heavj^  thought  — 
regret  that  the  companion  of  his  life,  who  had  borne  with 
him  the  labor  and  heat  of  the  struggle,  and  had  enjo^'cd  so 
few  of  its  triumphs,  must  now  be  left  to  begin  it  all  oA'er 
again  —  at  last  followed  the  rest.  The  ship  was  lightened  ; 
and  now  with  him 

*'  The  port,  well  worth  the  cruise,  is  near, 
And  every  wave  is  charmed." 

The  pen  that  had  been  said  to  drop  gall  and  wormwood 
was  now  filled  with  the  "oil  of  gladness,"  and  spoke  only 
words  of  loving  reminiscences  of  old  friends.  The  wonder- 
ful contrast  between  the  gentleness  and  sweetness  of  his 
nature  and  the  acerbity  of  his  pen  was  no  longer  visible. 
He  could  not  even  bear  to  hear  those  who  had  injured  him 
criticised  or  spoken  of  unkindl}'.  He  was  like  a  little  child, 
at  peace  with  all  men.  As  the  A'cil  of  flesh  grew  thin,  he 
became,  as  he  said,  a  seer;  for  he  saw  visions,  and  dreamed 
dreams.  "I  knew  a  man,"  said  St.  Paul  ("whether  in  the 
bod}',  I  cannot  tell ;  or  whether  out  of  the  body,  I  cannot 
tell :  God  knoweth)  ;  such  a  one  caught  up  to  the  third 
heaven."  "  AYarringtou's  "  chamber  was  full  of  imaginary 
visitants  :  his  chair  was  surrounded  b}-  children  and  people, 
—  fair  visions  unseen  b}'  those  with  whom  he  talked.  They 
were  not  dead  friends,  or  an}-  that  he  had  ever  known  ;  not 
even  his  beloved  sister,  or  his  little  son,  "  the  divine  boy  in 
the  upper  pastures."  He  was  always  awake  when  he  beheld 
these  visions,  and  could  see  them  the  same  whether  his  eyes 
were  shut  or  open.  They  were  so  common,  that  they  were 
mentioned  freely,  as  the  advent  of  other  guests  would  be. 
Often  he  said  to  friends  present  only  this  :  "  They're  thick 


''WARRINGTON."  165 

to-day;  they're  thick  to-day."  On  going  to  bed  he  would 
say,  "  I  shall  see  ghosts  to-night."  But  he  was  not  afraid  ; 
for,  like  Coleridge,  "  he  had  seen  too  many  of  them." 

One  of  his  most  singular  visions  was  in  the  night,  a  few 
weeks  before  he  died,  which  impressed  him  so  deeply,  that  he 
woke  his  wife  to  write  it  down  before  he  forgot  it.  While 
lying  in  his  bed  awake,  the  most  beautiful  colored  drapery 
began  to  form  around  his  room,  and  to  droop  down  from  the 
ceiling  over  his  head,  in  the  midst  of  which  was  a  calm,  grand 
face.  He  got  out  of  bed  "  to  explore,"  and  went  all  round 
ills  room,  past  the  three  windows,  and  moved  the  drapery  from 
side  to  side  as  he  passed.  This  phenomenon  was  frequently 
repeated,  alwa3's  with  the  same  appearance  of  realit}'.  He 
was  not  under  the  influence  of  medicine ;  for  he  took  none. 
He  did  not  accept  the  theory  of  so-called  Spiritualism,  and 
was  not  deluded  or  deceived  by  the  mystery  of  those  singu- 
lar visions,  but  philosophically'  aualj'zed,  and  logically  ex- 
plained, the  phenomenon.  He  said,  that,  as  the  veil  of  flesh 
grew  thin,  the  mental  eye  became  accustomed  to  a  nearer 
vision  of  the  future,  and  could  see  clearl}'  those  inhabitants 
of  the  atmosphere  invisible  to  a  more  earthly  sight.  To 
those  accepting  the  theory  of  heavenly  visitants,  it  may 
seem  strange  that  no  deceased  member  of  his  familj-,  and  no 
old  friend,  should  have  come  to  him  ;  but  to  himself  this  was 
no  mystery.  "On  the  other  side  of  the  hedge,  as  here," 
said  he,  "  in  the  scenes  of  their  progressive  life,  friends  may 
be  widely  scattered  from  one  another  and  from  us."  Of 
his  condition  he  wrote  to  F.  W.  Bird,  Feb.  20,  1876,  as 
follows  :  — 

I  don't  know  bow  I  am,  except  that  I  am  in  a  very  shadowy  con- 
dition of  mind,  especially  o'  nights,  as  one  who  walks  along  a  hedge 
and  sees  through,  or  thinks  he  does.  I  feel  a  great  indisposition  to 
work,  —  largely  laziness,  but  also  a  fear  that  I  may  go  too  far.  Am 
very  sleepy  at  times.  Am  seeing  lots  of  apparitions  and  ghosts,  but 
none  that  I  think  I  cannot  account  for.  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  come 
in  this  week.  Am  at  home  all  the  time,  and  shall  be  glad  to  see  you, 
or  indeed  any  of  my  friends.  Remember  me  to  Monroe,  Clapp,  San- 
born, et  al.  Does  Bowles  ever  come  down  ?  I  should  like  to  see  him. 
Write.  ■  W.  S.  R. 


166  MEMOIR  OF 

About  Christmas  time,  "Warrington"  dined  with  his 
friends  at  the  Bird  Club,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  original 
members.  His  last  visit  to  Boston  was  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  also  an  old-time  member  of  this  club. 
His  last  published  writings  will  be  found  among  the  selec- 
tions. He  died  on  the  11th  of  March,  the  anniversary 
of  Charles  Sumner's  death,  —  the  man,  above  all  others, 
whom  he  most  reverenced  and  believed  in,  and  b}'  whom  he 
was  so  much  regarded  in  return.  His  death  was  not  unex- 
pected. It  was  felt  by  his  family  that  the  feeble  light 
might  at  any  moment  go  out.  He  had  been  dressed  every- 
day, and  had  sat  down  stairs  by  his  open  fire.  On  the 
evening  before  he  died,  he  went  up  stairs  to  his  chamber  as 
usual.  He  awoke  several  times,  and  drew  up  the  curtain  at 
his  bedside  to  look  out  into  the  night.  He  was  awake,  and 
talking  freelj'  with  his  wife,  not  twenty  minutes  before  the 
time  when,  holding  the  hands  he  loved  best  on  earth,  he 
fell  asleep,  and  "  was  not ;  for  God  took  him." 

"  As  the  last  perfection  of  a  work  of  art,  may  we  not 
discern  s3-mbolic  meaning?  In  that  divinely  transfigured 
sleep  as  of  victory  resting  over  the  beloved  face  which  now 
knows  thee  no  more,  read  (if  thou  canst  for  tears)  the 
confluence  of  time  with  eternity,  and  some  gleam  of  the 
latter  peering  through." 


"WARRINGTON."  167 


CHAPTER    X. 

IN   MEMORIAM, 

"  Even  for  the  dead  I  will  not  bind 

My  soul  to  grief :  death  cannot  long  divide ; 
For  'tis  as  if  the  rose  that  climbed 

My  garden  wall  had  bloomed  the  other  side." 

Unknown. 

"  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  let  my  last 
end  be  like  his."  It  is  the  life  that  has  been  lived  that  alone 
makes  it  possible  to  die  such  a  death  as  I  have  tried  to  de- 
scribe. After  all  the  grasping,  when  the  hands  are  empty, 
—  as  all  must  be  at  last,  —  it  is  the  good  deeds  that  abide, 
and  hold  fast,  and  fill  all  the  space.  We  do  not  speak  of 
him  as  dead.  His  spirit  still  pervades  the  chamber,  the 
house  where  ho  dwelt. 

"  Warrington "  had  no  public  funeral.  He  was  buried 
without  honors.  Xo  eulogy  was  given,  no  resolutions  offered 
from  the  House  he  had  served,  no  long  procession  followed 
him.  In  the  quiet  manner  he  would  have  preferred,  as  befit- 
ting one  of  the  people,  all  that  was  carthl}'  of  him  was  car- 
ried to  its  rest.  At  his  house  in  Maiden  a  few  friends 
gathered,  brought  their  floral  tributes,  and  discoursed  ten- 
derly of  their  departed  townsman  and  friend.  He  lay  in  his 
sunny  libraiy,  all  open  to  the  day,  side  b}'  side  with  his  books, 
and  the  desk  at  which  he  had  labored,  and  written  so  many 
brave  words.  Dr.  Bartol  of  the  West  Church,  Boston,  spoke 
as  follows  :  — 

"  My  friends  of  this  bereaved  family,  and  of  this  company  that  is 
not  altogether  sad,  there  is  some  joy,  some  hope,  in  that  we  have 
been  singing.     I  purposely  sacrificed,  this  day,  aflEairs  of  some  public 


168  MEMOIR  OF 

concern,  that  I  might,  by  my  presence  here,  pay  unaffected  tribute  to 
that  man  in  that  coffin,  so  fittingly  laid  in  that  place,  by  the  desk 
where  he  stood  so  wearilessly ;  to  pay  tribute  to  a  sense,  long  felt, 
of  courage,  patience,  modesty,  humility,  with  which  he  served  the 
truth.  Why  should  not  the  orator  pay  tribute  to  one  who  spoke  so 
well  ?  Why  should  not  the  preacher  pay  tribute  to  a  journalist  who 
preached  sermon  after  sermon  which  arrested  the  attention  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands?  and,  if  to  a  journalist,  why  not  to  one  whom  I 
ought  to  call  the  '  prince  of  journalists '  ?  He  has  hardly  left  a  peer, 
and  no  equal,  on  topics  which  for  years  have  occupied  Ills  pen.  His 
constant  effort  was  ever  to  show  these  things  —  matters  of  public 
interest  —  in  the  light  of  truth  and  morality :  such  was  the  habit  of 
the  man  whom  we  are  here  to  respect,  —  to  respect  for  his  sincerity,  an 
acute  conscience,  a  sense  of  right.  He  was  the  '  Junius  '  of  America ; 
and  this  is  not  said  at  random,  or  by  report,  or  with  mockery,  as  a 
parrot,  what  other  folks  have  said,  but  from  conversance  with  the 
man's  contributions  to  the  public  prints,  from  the  close  following  of 
his  literaiy  productions,  from  communion  with  William  S.  Robinson. 
The  fault  found  with  his  writings  may  be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  his 
arrows  of  truth  hit  the  mark.  He  drew  his  enemies'  fire,  because  he 
drew  their  blood.  He  was  the  sheriff  of  the  moral  sense,  the  execu- 
tor of  the  law  of  righteousness.  His  pen  was  tempered  by  a  holy 
fire,  and  strengthened  by  conviction  that  antagonism  to  crimes  and 
errors  of  thought  and  judgment  was  its  only,  its  proper  use.  His 
creed  was  simple,  and  expressed  in  the  words,  'God,'  'duty,'  'immor- 
tality.' It  is  somewhat  surprising,  in  making  this  review  of  Mr. 
Robinson,  how  some  of  our  best  and  greatest  men  are  feeling  the 
narrowness  of  denominational  terms." 

Di'.  Bavtol  spoke  very  beautifully  of  the  long  line  of  illus- 
trious personages  who  have  moved  beyond  the  ' '  hedges  ' '  of 
this  world,  and  included  with  the  names  of  Andrew,  Lincoln, 
Sumner,  and  Wilson,  that  of  Robinson.  "It  is  not  the 
place  or  time  to  refer  to  his  public  career ;  but  I  cannot  help 
remarking,  that  though  Mr.  Robinson  had  long  and  ablj* 
filled  the  position  of  clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  House,  yet, 
in  consequence  of  his  unswerving  fidelit}'  to  truth,  he  was 
not  allowed  to  retain  the  office."  Dr.  Bartol  closed  the 
eulogy,  which  flowed  from  the  depths  of  his  heart,  by  a 
reference  to  the  personal  character  of  Mr.  Robinson.  Had 
his  reward  been  equal  to  his  talents,  he  would  have  been 
wealthy ;  but  he  left  one  of  the  greatest  legacies  to  his  familj- 


''WARRINGTON."  169 

in  his  cliaracter  and  name.^  H^rans  were  sung ;  and  praj-er 
was  offered  by  Rev.  D.  M.  Wilson,  Unitarian  clergyman  of 
Maiden. 

The  funeral-services  were  continued  in  Concord,  in  the  old 
parish-church,  where  '"Warrington"  had  first  heard  Dr. 
Ripley  preach;  and  Ur.  Ripley's  successor,  Rev.  Grindall 
Re3-uolds,  addressed  the  assembled  friends  as  follows  :  — 

"  You  have  brought  what  remains  visible  of  your  dear  friend  to 
the  old  home,  where,  amid  social,  literary,  and  political  influences  in 
his  youth,  I  take  it,  very  earnest  and  quickening,  his  character  re- 
ceived its  first  shaping.  You  have  brought  him  to  that  old  churcli 
where  he  formed  not  a  little  that  religious  faith  which  was  behind  his 
intense  moral  and  philanthropic  activity  and  faithfulness,  and  which, 
in  his  last  hours  of  feebleness  and  failing  powers,  gave  him  serene 
peace  and  trust.  You  have  brought  the  dust  precious  to  j^ou,  to  bury 
in  that  soil  where  sleeps  the  dust  of  his  ancestors  for  two  generations, 
and  that  of  his  own  child.  It  seems  fitting  so  to  do.  Gladly,  yet 
with  sadness  too,  we  receive  back  ail  that  remains  mortal  to  the 
place  which  has  so  many  memories  of  his  brave  and  strong  spirit  to 
cherish. 

"  Your  friend  was  not  simply  a  private  citizen:  in  the  true  sense, 
he  was  a  public  man.  True,  his  personality  was  not  often  put  forth 
prominentlj'.  He  did  not  hold,  and  he  did  not  seek,  many  offices 
which  brought  him  before  the  world ;  but  he  was  a  public  man,  in 
that,  to  the  very  core  of  his  being,  he  was  full  of  that  public  spirit 
by  which  he  took  a  perpetual  and  fervent  interest  in  all  things  which 
concerned  the  interests  of  the  community,  of  humanity;  and  in 
that,  with  that  weapon  which  he  wi(dded  with  such  consummate 
skill,  —  the  pen,  —  he  was  perpetually  laboring  to  advance  what 
seemed  to  him  the  welfare  and  true  progress  of  man.  By  his  sa- 
gacious foresight,  by  his  large  knowledge,  by  his  keen  and  pungent 
wit,  by  his  undoubting  faith,  he  took  his  place  among  large  public 
mflucncos.  When  you  have  excepted  a  few  great  names,  it  will  be 
admitted  that  not  many  have  done  more  to  carry  our  good  Common- 

1  In  a  discourse  at  his  church  on  the  following  sabbath,  Dr.  Bartol 
said,  "  W.  S.  Robinson  was  the  censor  of  our  American  sin  and  shame. 
He  was  a  Theodore  Parker,  addressing  a  larger  audience  from  a  higher 
pulpit.  Bitter  was  he,  indeed,  against  corruption  in  any  form.  Doubt- 
less he  had  faults;  but  his  virtues  were  real.  He  was  one,  at  least, 
who  was  not  terrified  by  the  tempers  and  the  liate  of  the  multitude. 
He  inflicted  a  wound  on  tliat  leviathan  of  sin  that  swims  in  o\ir  muddy 
pool  of  politics,  and  laughs  at  the  shaking  of  a  spear." 


170  MEMOIR   OF 

wealth  forward  in  that  glorious  way  of  philanthropy  and  liberty  in 
which  it  has  travelled  than  he  did. 

"  The  thing  which  can  be  said  first  of  his  character  is,  that  it  was 
one  of  which  we  can  afford  to  tell  the  whole  truth.  Like  the  great 
Protector,  he  could  say,  '  Paint  me  as  I  am,'  with  all  the  virtues  and 
defects.  One  thing  is  clear :  the  objects  which  he  set  before  him  to 
forward  were  objects  becoming  a  high-minded  man  to  accept.  To 
promote  good  measures;  to  elevate  to  power  good  men;  to  attack  by 
every  weapon  of  argument,  of  ridicule,  of  appeal,  which  wi'onged 
and  oppressed ;  to  unmask  hypocrites,  and  to  take  away  their  poAver 
to  injure,  —  these  objects,  according  to  the  best  of  his  discernment 
and  power,  he  sought  to  attain.  No  one,  however  opposed,  suspected 
him  of  wilfully  sustaining  any  thing  base  or  mean  or  wrong.  How- 
ever he  fought,  he  always  fought  with  a  good  conscience,  and  unde- 
terred by  any  obstacles,  —  whether  failing  health,  or  risk  of  personal 
popularity,  or  opposition  of  friends;  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  he 
fought  the  fight  with  remarkable  unselfishness.  He  did  not  ask  much 
portion  for  himself,  or  much  reward  of  any  sort.  He  was  content  to 
live  simply,  and  to  loork  while  it  was  day. 

"  That  he  sometimes  erred  in  judgment,  that  he  sometimes  made 
attacks  which  were  undeserved,  that,  possessing  as  few  a  trenchant 
wit  and  pungent  humor,  he  frequently  used  them  with  undue  sever- 
ity, his  dearest  friends  no  doubt  would  admit.  But,  admitting  all,  his 
public  influence  was  beyond  peradventure  great,  wholesome,  on  the 
side  of  public  righteousness,  and  not  against  it,  —  for  man's  true 
rights  and  progress.  In  personal  relations  he  had  great  power  of 
attaching  people  to  him  deeply,  even  people  whom  he  had  criticised 
and  opposed.  He  was  bright,  cheerful,  full  of  wit,  full  of  knowledge, 
warm-hearted,  faithful,  trustworthy;  and  so  he  had  a  great  circle  of 
those  who  believed  in  him,  enjoyed  him,  and  clung  to  him  in  health, 
and  quite  as  deeply  in  sickness  and  decline.  We  cannot  go  far  behind 
the  veil  which  properly  secludes  the  private  relations  and  home;  but 
we  can  say  he  was  faithful  and  affectionate  in  all  its  relations,  a  true 
husband,  an  indulgent  and  tender  father. 

"  He  was  not  faultless.  No  one  would  believe  us  if  we  said  that. 
He  had  the  faults,  and  he  had  the  great  virtues,  of  a  bold,  warm- 
hearted, sturdy  nature,  which  had  its  own  vigorous  and  conscientious 
belief,  and  which  with  the  whole  heart  hated  wrong  and  hated  false- 
hood. And  so  it  was  not  a  life  lived  for  nought.  It  accomplished 
and  was  accomplishing  a  vast  deal  which  was  good  and  valuable; 
which  was  for  the  increase  of  human  welfare,  and  for  the  strengthen- 
ing of  things  right  and  true.  And  now  in  its  fulness,  in  its  early 
autumn  days,  when  with  the  ripening  of  years  and  the  chastening  of 
trial  we  might  have  expected  a  sweeter  and  richer  fruitage  than  even 
in  youth,  in  manhood,  that  life  for  here  is  closed.     Kegrets  are 


"  WARRING  TON."  171 

human;  and  yet  with  the  human  regrets  mingles  the  divine  and 
heavenly  instinct,  which  tells  that  there  is  no  testimony  to  immor- 
tality so  clear,  so  touching,  so  indisputable,  as  what  we  call  death  of 
those  who  have  in  them  intellect,  affections,  high  faith,  good  pur- 
poses, whose  full  work  is  not  yet.  The  work  drops  here  from  our 
nerveless  hands,  only  that  in  the  world  seen  by  the  eye  of  faith  a 
nobler  work  may  be  taken  up." 

Pra3-er  was  again  offered  b}-  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  and  h3Tiins 
were  sung.  Tlie  beautiful  h^-mn  b^-  Sir  Henry  Wotton, 
sung  both  at  Maiden  and  at  Concord,  is  here  given  :  — 

How  happy  is  he  born  or  taught 

Who  serveth  not  another's  will; 
Whose  armor  is  his  honest  thought, 

And  simple  truth  his  highest  skill ; 

Whose  passions  not  his  masters  are; 

Whose  soul  is  still  prepared  for  death, 
Not  tied  unto  the  world  with  care 

Of  prince's  ear  or  vulgar  breath ; 

Who  God  doth  late  and  early  pray 
More  of  his  grace  than  goods  to  lend; 

And  walks  with  man  from  day  to  day 
As  with  a  brother  and  a  friend  I 

This  man  is  freed  from  servile  bands 

Of  hope  to  rise,  or  fear  to  fall ; 
Lord  of  himself,  though  not  of  lands ; 

And  having  nothing,  yet  hath  all. 

Upon  the  coffin  plate  was  inscribed, — 
WILLTAISI  S.  KOBLS'SOJT, 

"WARRIN-GTON." 

Bom  in  Concord,  Mass.,  Dec.  7,  1818. 
Died  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  March  11,  1876. 

hesurgam. 

He  had  returned  again  to  his  birthplace.  In  the  hollow 
behind  the  hill,  where  sleep  the  generations  of  his  ancestors, 
and  where  he  had  played  as  a  child,  near  the  graves  of  his 
old  schoolmates  John  and  Henry  Thoreau,    and  close  to 


172  MEMOIR  OF 

where  Hawthorne  lies,  tender  hands  of  old  friends  laid  him 
down  b}'  the  side  of  his  little  bo}'.  Twice  winter  has  de- 
parted since  he  left  us ;  but  his  chained  feet  no  spring  can 
loose,  and  to  mortal  ken  his 

**  part  in  all  tbe  pomp  that  fills 
The  circuit  of  the  summer  hills 
Is  that  his  grave  is  green." 

Many  heartfelt  tributes  to  his  memory  were  published  by 
his  brethren  of  the  press.  The  following  are  selected  from 
among  them :  — 

"  One  after  another,  the  leaders  of  opinion  in  Massachusetts  have 
been  passing  away  since  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  in  which,  through 
their  steadfastness,  and  that  of  the  people  who  stood  behind  them, 
our  ancient  Commonwealth  became  itself  the  leader  of  the  whole 
country.  John  A.  Andrew  died  first,  in  1867 ;  Charles  Allen  followed ; 
then  Charles  Sumner ;  next  Henry  Wilson ;  and  now  we  must  record 
the  death  of  their  friend  and  fellow-worker,  from  1848  onward, 
through  the  antislavery  struggle,  the  war  period,  and  the  years  of  re- 
construction,— William  S.  Eocixsox,  the  keen  and  honest  journal- 
ist, the  man  of  wit  and  conscience,  who  has  for  so  many  years  in- 
structed and  entertained  the  readers  .of  '  The  Republican '  with  his 
inimitable  letters.  It  was  for  them  that  his  best  words  were  written, 
and  to  them  he  spoke  long  and  wisely.  If  he  did  not  always  measure 
the  full  force  of  his  words,  if  his  wit  sometimes  went  too  far  for 
justice  to  follow,  he  was  yet,  in  the  main,  just,  high-minded,  and 
discriminating ;  and  no  man  was  more  free  from  that  cankered  vice  of 
our  times,  —  a  self-seeking  hypocrisy  masked  under  professions  of 
public  service.  He  never  committed  nor  connived  at  those  easy  sins 
of  the  politician  by  which  the  people  are  cheated  and  pillaged.  He 
was  sharp  against  knaves  and  fools,  and  sometimes  against  good  men 
who  had  blundered  over  to  the  wrong  side ;  but  he  was  never  false  to 
the  great  principles  of  popular  government.  Friendship  was  with 
him  no  excuse  for  public  wrong  or  political  errors.  He  reproved  the 
men  who  stood  with  him  as  faithfully  as  he  fought  against  the  other 
side. 

"  Of  the  many  conspicuous  services  which  '  Warrington '  rendered 
to  the  cause  of  good  government  in  Massachusetts,  the  greatest  was, 
perhaps,  his  unsparing  castigation  of  Butler  in  the  memorable  raid 
upon  the  governorship  made  by  that  person  in  1871. 

"  It  was  then  that  our  satirist  won  his  highest  glory,  and  had  the 
right  to  make  his  own  that  boast  of  the  English  poet  so  often  quoted 
concerning  him :  — 


"WARRINGTON."  173 

'  Yes,  I  am  proud,  I  must  be  proud,  to  see 
Men  not  afraid  of  God  afraid  of  me ; 
Safe  from  the  bar,  tlie  pulpit,  and  the  throne, 
Yet  touched  and  ^•ha^nell  by  ridicide  alone. 
O  sacrod  weapon  left  for  truth's  defence, 
Sole  dread  of  folly,  vice,  ami  insolence! 
Reverent  I  touch  thee,  but  with  honest  zeal, 
To  rouse  the  watchman  of  the  public  weal.' 

"His  character  was  formed  in  an  old-fashioned  New-England  com- 
munity, and  lacked  some  of  the  elements  of  culture;  but  he  had 
disciplined  himself  to  the  work  of  a  journalist,  and  had  a  right  to  the 
name  of  a  literary  man.  lie  read  many  books,  and  read  them  well; 
but  he  was  still  more  versed  in  the  knowledge  that  comes  without 
books,  from  the  study  and  companionship  of  men.  He  was  an  ency- 
clopaedia of  political  knowledge,  especially  concerning  Massachusetts, 
in  which  he  chiefly  interested  himself.  He  was  a  delightful  compan- 
ion, and  a  warm  friend;  loved  and  respected  even  by  those  whom 
he  had  publicly  censured,  if  they  happened  to  be  persons  who  could 
themselves  discriminate  between  wit  and  malice,  between  severity 
and  slander."  — F.  B.  Saxbokx,  in  Sprinyfield  Eepublican. 

"Those  who  knew  William  S.  Robinson  intimately  will  mourn  him 
the  most  sincerely.  He  was  a  man  Avho  exemplified  in  a  marked 
degree  the  true  spirit  of  personal  loyalty.  He  was  neither  a  flatterer 
of  a  friend,  nor  an  apologist  for  the  errors  of  those  he  respected.  He 
was  frank  to  a  fault;  and  spoke  liis  mind  on  paper  and  in  conversa- 
tion with  so  much  freedom,  that  he  offended  those  who  did  not  see 
that  his  motive  was  pure.  It  was  in  liis  nature  to  say  sharp  things ; 
but  in  liis  heart  there  was  no  bitterness.  He  was  a  critic  without 
selfish  purposes.  He  detested  sham;  and  he  was  at  times,  perhaps, 
misled  by  the  shadow  ratlier  than  the  substance;  and  many  of  his 
criticisms  upon  men  and  motives  were  often  modified.  He  gave 
severe  political  blows;  but  he  received  the  shots  of  his  antagonists 
with  Roman  firmness.  No  one  can  attribute  to  liim,  through  the 
active  years  of  a  long  political  life,  any  base  or  unworthy  intent.  Had 
he  sought  influence  and  wealth,  he  would  have  trimmed  his  sails  to 
catch  more  propitious  gales ;  but  from  boyhood  to  the  grave  he  pre- 
ferred '  his  independent  tongue  and  pen  '  to  aught  else  that  the  world 
could  bestow  upon  him.  In  his  home,  and  amid  that  social  life  which 
besought  before  his  recent  illness,  he  was  the  kind  husband,  consid- 
erate father,  and  genial  friend.  Many  years  will  pass  away  before  his 
memory  will  fade  from  the  recollection  of  those  who  knew  him  when 
his  mind  was  vigorous,  and  his  shafts  of  wit  were  so  potent  and  pier- 
cing to  those  who  wore  the  armor  of  pretence  and  bigotry."  —  W.  W. 
Clapp,  Boston  Journal. 


174 


MEMOIR  OF 


"  The  last  time  we  saw  W.  S.  Eobinson  in  health  was  on  the  15th 
of  ISTovember,  1872;  and  had  any  one  then  told  us  that  we,  his 
senior  by  four  years,  should  survive  him,  we  should  have  considered 
the  assertion  absurd ;  for,  in  the  convei'sation  we  then  had  with  him, 
he  was  as  animated  and  as  racy,  as  vigorous  and  as  richly  humorous, 
as  we  had  found  him  in  1843,  when  we  made  his  acquaintance.  He 
carried  his  fifty-four  years  well  too,  and  bade  as  fair  to  learn  what 
length  of  days  means  as  any  man  wh«m  we  knew.  There  was,  appar- 
ently, an  amount  of  vitality  in  his  constitution  that  did  not  admit 
of  the  thought  that  the  calling  of  which  he  was  so  brilliant  a  mem- 
ber was  so  soon  to  lose  him ;  and  we  were  much  surprised,  when,  in 
1873,  we  heard  of  his  illness.  He  had  overworked  himself ;  he  having 
been  steadily  employed  from  his  boyhood,  and  seldom  having  known 
an  interval  of  real  rest.  As  a  writer,  we  think  there  never  was  his 
superior  in  American  journalism ;  and  his  equals  might  be  counted 
on  half  the  fingers.  Many  of  his  articles  and  letters  are  as  good  as 
those  of  Albany  Fonblanque ;  and  a  collection  made  from  them,  and 
properly  edited,  would  be  as  good  reading  as  can  be  found  in  Mr. 
Fonblanque's  'England  under  Seven  Administrations.'  It  would, 
too,  be  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  best  materials  for  the  history  of 
American  politics  for  the  last  thirty  years, — an  important  considera- 
tion ;  for  our  political  history  iierishes  almost  as  fast  as  it  is  made,  the 
chief  cause  of  which  is  the  lumbering  character  of  most  of  the  matter 
from  which  it  should  be  written.  But  Mr.  Robinson's  contributions 
to  that  matter  lie  under  no  such  reproach;  for  he  brought  to  his 
work  an  amount  and  a  variety  of  humor  such  as  it  is  very  rare  indeed 
to  find  in  any  man,  and  a  trenchant  wit  that  is  still  more  rare ;  and 
his  style  was  a  combination  of  keenness  and  vigor  that  reminded 
readers  of  the  French  of  Paul  Louis  Courier.  Had  he  been  so  situ- 
ated as  to  be  able  to  devote  himself  solely  to  the  pursuit  of  letters,  it 
is  our  firm  belief  that  he  \vould  have  won  a  permanent  place  among 
the  great  humorists  of  Europe  and  America.  He  was  a  very  rapid 
thinker  and  a  quick  worker,  of  which  qualities  his  conversation 
afforded,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  better  evidence  than  could 
be  aft"ordcd  by  his  writings ;  for  they  might,  for  aught  that  the  reader 
knew,  be  painfully  and  laboriously  elaborated :  but  such  was  not  the 
fact,  as  he  wrote  with  ease,  and  never  was  at  loss  for  either  ideas  or 
words.  He  could  strike  hard  blows  with  both  pen  and  tongue ;  but 
he  preferred  the  vise  of  sharp  weapons  to  that  of  heavy  weapons, 
skill  to  force.  He  was  the  Saladin  of  his  profession.  Though  not  a 
learned  man, — few  journalists  are  learned  men,  — he  was  an  uncom- 
monly well-read  man;  and  his  reading  embraced  those  writers  who 
are  by  common  consent  admitted  to  be  first-class  humorists,  —  Eabe- 
lais,  Montaigne,  Cervantes,  Swift,  Fielding,  Sterne,  Sydney  Smith,  and 
others.    Scott  he  held  to  be  as  great  in  humor  as  in  all  other  respects ; 


"WARRINGTON:'  lib 

and  he  placed  him  with  Shakspeare.  He  was  one  of  the  early  few 
who  appreciated  the  genius  of  Hawthorne.  With  the  literature  of 
his  own  time  he  was  very  familiar;  and  probably  no  other  American 
knew  better  the  writings  of  Dickens  and  Thackeray,  and  the  higher 
order  of  those  authors  who  may  be  said  to  be  of  the  schools  of  those 
great  masters.  He  was  fond  of  works  of  fiction,  among  which,  he 
would  pleasantly  say,  he  classed  biographies,  and  books  of  travels. 
His  miscellaneous  reading  was  both  extensive  and  various ;  and  as 
his  mind  was  a  wonderfully  clear  one,  and  his  memory  excellent,  his 
reading's  results  wei'e  always  available.  He  had  not  the  slightest 
pedantry,  being  as  free  from  that  as  he  was  from  cant.  In  politics  he 
was  ever  a  liberal,  and  of  the  ultra  stamp;  always  sympathizing  with 
the  oppressed,  and  aiding  their  cause  to  the  extent  of  his  jjowers  and 
his  opportunities.  He  did  his  part  in  the  world  well  and  nobly;  and 
now  he  has,  like  the  good  and  faithful  servant  that  he  was,  gone  to 
that  rest  which  is  the  best  reward  of  an  honest,  an  honorable,  an  in- 
dustrious, and  a  useful  life."  — C.  C.  Hazewell,  Boston  Traveller. 

"  For  twenty  years  he  was  an  almost  constant  contributor  to  the 
columns  of  '  The  Springfield  Republican;'  and  his  letters  during  the 
antlslavery  straggle  were  widely  read  and  highly  prized:  in  fact, 
they  were  the  only  fearless  utterances  in  behalf  of  freedom  found  in 
any  journal  in  this  part  of  the  State."  —  H.  L.  Bubt,  Springfield  Tele- 
gram. 

"  We  are  called  upon,  at  last,  to  face  the  intelligence  of  a  long- 
dreaded  event.  William  S.  llobinson  is  dead.  I  saw  him  in  his 
coflBn;  and  he  had  more  his  old  aspect  than  I  had  recognized  in  him 
for  two  years.  The  unnatural  marlcs  that  his  disease  had  brought 
appeared  to  have  all  faded  away  since  life  had  departed.  I  was 
impressed  with  a  massive  beauty  in  his  brow  which  I  had  never 
before  appreciated.  His  brave  heart  has  ceased  to  beat;  his  active 
and  acute  mind  has  ended  its  earthly  work.  The  labors  of  his  life 
aie  over.  He  is  lost  to  that  public  whom  he  so  faithfully  and  so 
courageously  served,  and  to  those  friends,  who,  knowing  the  kindli- 
ness of  character  and  the  strongly  sympathetic  nature  that  underlaid 
his  keenly  critical  temperament,  ardently  loved  the  man. 

"If  ever  a  true  man,  in  the  broadest  .sense  of  the  tenn,  lived,  it  was 
he.  Nothing  was  able  to  shake  the  absolute  fidelity  to  conviction 
that  was  so  distinguishing  a  trait  of  his  character.  In  an  age  of 
servility  among  politicians,  he  never  faltered :  he  was  never  eveu 
tempted.  Few  men  needed  money  more.  He  began  the  world  poor, 
and  a  large  portion  of  his  experience  in  it  was  a  struggle  with  pov- 
erty. Money  was  qi)eu  to  him,  not  as  a  reward  of  dishonesty,  — for  no 
man  ever  dreamed  of  offering  to  him  a  money-bribe,  —  but  as  the 


176  MEMOIR  OF 

fruit  of  conformity  to  the  opinions  of  tlie  hour.  His  pen  was  a  power 
that  was  worth  the  purchase  of  any  party :  the  rewards  of  office  and 
of  position  that  might  have  been  claimed  by  him  wlao  wielded  it,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  over-estimate.  He  had  not  to  sacrifice  any  thing 
that  most  men  woiild  have  regarded  as  essential,  either:  he  had 
merely  to  accede  to  the  prejudices  of  the  hour  among  those  with 
whom,  in  most  points,  he  was  in  agreement.  His  sturdy  sense  of 
rectitude  entertained  not  the  thought  for  a  moment.  He  continually 
risked  such  favors  of  fortune  as  came  to  him  by  his  faithfulness  to 
what  he  felt  to  be  absolute  truth.  Ordinary  politicians  regarded  his 
temerity  with  amazement.  It  is  to  their  credit,  however,  that  they 
respected  an  exhibition  of  manliness  which  they  found  it  difficult  to 
comprehend.  He  held  the  position,  for  many  years,  of  clerk  of  a 
House  of  Eepresentatives  which  he  constantly  criticised  with  merci- 
less severity ;  and  he  lost  it,  at  last,  after  partisanship  had  so  depre- 
ciated the  composition  of  that  body  as  to  elect  to  it  men  a  majority 
of  whom  were  capable  of  censuring  Charles  Sumner,  while  they 
refused  to  express  disapprobation  of  the  Cre'dit  Mobilier  frauds  in 
Congress. 

"While,  perhaps,  the  fearless  independence  of  Mr.  Robinson  was 
his  most  distinguishing  quality,  —  a  quality  in  which  he  was  equalled 
only  by  Charles  Sumner  among  those  of  the  same  generation  in 
public  life,  —  he  possessed,  also,  a  power  as  a  writer  that  would  have 
attracted  attention  to  him  in  any  era  of  our  annals.  His  knowledge 
of  the  political  history  of  the  country  was  very  thorough ;  and  he  had 
enjoyed  the  friendship  and  acqiiaintance  of  almost  all  the  distin- 
guished men  of  hi.s  own  State  with  whom  lie  was  contemporary.  He 
was  unsurpassed  in  shrewdness  of  observation;  he  had  a  logical 
strength  that  was  proof  against  almost  any  possible  flaw  in  arguments 
in  which  he  enlisted ;  his  pungency  in  statement  was  so  conspicuous 
as  to  pass  into  a  proverb ;  and  his  wit  was  of  the  keenest  character. 
It  was  used  unsparingly  in  some  instances,  and  it  scathed  without 
stint  those  who  came  within  the  sphere  of  his  censure ;  but  we  do 
not  believe  even  its  victims  ever  doubted  the  honesty  that  impelled 
either  his  sarcasm  or  his  scorning.  There  was  never  jjersonal  ani- 
mosity beneath  it.  He  saw  farther  beneath  tlie  surface  of  character 
than  do  most  men;  and  he  had  a  lordly  hatred  of  wrong,  and  still 
more  strikingly  an  intolerant  spirit  towards  humbug,  that  would  not 
be  repressed.  He  must  find  expression  for  what  seemed  to  him  in 
need  of  rebuke.  Friend  as  well  as  foe  came  under  his  condemnation, 
if  he  felt  their  action  deserved  it.  Those  who  best  knew  him  will- 
ingly submitted  to  his  strictures.  They  learned  to  know  it  as  only  a 
faithful  frankness,  that  never  spared  the  utterance  of  truth  because 
of  personal  sympathy.  • 

*'  Were  Mr,  Robinson  living,  no  man  would  more  scorn  iudiscrimi- 


"WARRINGTON."  177 

nating  eulogy  than  himself ;  j-et  we  use  the  language  of  only  simple 
justice  when  we  say  that  few  men  of  clearer  brain,  nobler  heart,  and 
purer  purjDOse,  have  lived  in  this  generation  than  him  to  whom  this 
most  inadequate  tribute  of  a  fervent  friendship  is  paid." — G.  H. 
MoxKOE,  Boston  Saturday  Evening  Gazette. 

Bishop  Gilbert  Haven,  his  friend  and  townsman,  wrote 
in  "  The  Independent,"  — 

"The  memory  of  many  rich  hours  in  'Warrington's'  society 
stimulates  this  tribute.  Shall  not  the  spring  flowers  scattered  on  his 
couch  to-day  in  Sleepy  Hollow  by  the  liberal  and  loving  hand  of  his 
Creator  be  accompanied  by  a  few  equally  natural,  and  not  artificial, 
though  of  little  worth,  yet  vitalized  by  love?  In  a  great  war,  the  sol- 
diers that  win  fame  are  not  always  the  fighters.  The  sharpshooter 
that  dropped  many  a  gunner  at  his  post,  and  by  his  steady  and  sure 
shots  picked  ofE  the  officers,  was  often  unnoticed  in  the  gazette,  and 
even  unknown  to  the  commander.  Yet,  but  for  his  perilous  and  per- 
sistent aim,  the  day  had  gone  to  the  enemy.  So  in  life's  great  field  of 
battle,  whether  of  the  Church  or  of  less  reforms,  the  real  fighter  is 
not  always  the  most  prominent.  The  man  that  wins  the  battle  for 
Christ  and  humanity  may  never  wear  the  general's  buttons ;  but  he  is 
none  the  less  the  real  general. 

"  It  seems  natural  to  think  thus  when  the  sharpest,  steadiest, 
truest  journalist  in  all  the  mighty  battle  for  freedom  passes  away 
with  a  dozen  or  less  sketches  in  the  daily  press,  a  page  long,  and  a 
score  or  two  of  minor  notices,  as  his  only  requiem.  Mr.  "Wliipple  finds 
room  for  laudation  of  a  journalist  or  two  in  his  Biograplda  Literaria 
of  the  century,  but  fails  to  remember  this  most  swift  and  sure  of  them 
all.  Yet  none  the  less  for  that  omision  will  he  be  remembered.  In 
the  chosen  few  who  waged  to  the  end  the  glorious  strife,  his  name 
will  stand  among  the  highest.  His  gifts  were  as  peculiar  as  any  of 
his  fellows.  They  were  his  own.  He  was  not  a  philosophic  thinker, 
poet,  politician,  statesman,  nor  even  editor;  though  many  of  the  ele- 
ments of  the  highest  order  of  statesman,  politician,  poet,  philosopher, 
and  editor,  entered  into  his  composition.  He  was  pre-eminently  the 
political  letter-writer.  No  such  shaft  fled  from  any  other  bow  as  those 
his  arm  discharged.  They  were  deadly,  but  never  venomous.  His 
arrows  were  sharp  in  the  hearts  of  the  king's  enemies. 

"  This  work  was  not  executed  in  malice,  but,  in  his  own  conscience, 
undoubtedly,  with  the  highest  sense  of  duty.  He  was  only  testing 
every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it  was.  Like  Soci'ates,  he  was  trying 
it,  not  to  show  himself,  but  itself.  He  never  dwelt  long  on  one  he 
blamed  or  praised.  He  flew  from  flower  to  flower,  extracting  poison 
as  delightedly  as  balm.     His  religious  views  were  anti-orthodox,  as 


178  MEMOIR  OF 

might  have  been  expected  from  his  birthplace.  He  drank  at  the  same 
fountain  as  his  fellow-townsmen,  Emerson  and  Thoreau,  of  the 
former  of  whom  he  was  always  a  reverent  admirer.  Of  course,  such 
a  culture  is  far  from  Christian ;  and  Christian  truth  never  seized  upon 
his  soul.  His  writings  were  never  touched  by  that  light  supernal : 
they  were  '  of  the  earth,  earthy ; '  though  that  earth  was  polished 
marble  and  precious  stones.  He  was  bewrayed  too,  by  this  defect,  into 
too  loose  ideas  of  liberty,  not  in  himself,  —  for  a  maiden  purity  was 
his  lifelong  trait,  —  but  in  society.  Like  Gov.  Andrew,  he  got  so  deep 
in  love  with  liberty,  that  he  did  not  always  discern  its  true  metes  and 
bounds.  Mill's  wild  liberty,  which  was  license  and  lawlessness, 
infatuated  this  seer  and  sayer.  Yet  even  here  were  limitations ;  and 
the  free-love  abominations  of  the  hour  found  no  more  stinging  foe 
than  in  his  piercing  pen. 

"His  life  was  faithful  according  to  its  early  light.  Few  men  have 
ever  lived  who  more  completely  verified  the  portrait  of  the  poet's 

poet,  — 

'  Dowered  with  the  hate  of  hate,  the  scorn  of  scorn, 
The  love  of  love.' 

His  prejudices  were  sometimes  his  idols,  which  he  worshipped  as 
gods.  His  career  is  a  stimulus  and  a  guide  to  truthful  journalism. 
He  should  be  copied  by  the  hundreds  that  control  our  press  in  hon- 
esty and  integrity.  If  they  lack  his  capacity,  they  will,  after  their 
measure,  be  honored  and  successful.  Other  evils  which  his  pen  never 
attacked  yet  remain.  Let  his  conscientious  zeal  against  what  he 
accouuted  wrong  stimulate  every  seeker  of  life-fame  to  a  like  honora- 
ble warfare:  so  will  'Warrington'  be  not  a  vanishing  name,  but  a 
growing  power  in  all  the  mjTiads  of  those  who  wield  the  mighty  force 
of  the  press  of  to-day  and  to-morrow." 

It  is  fitting  that  woman,  in  whom  he  believed,  and  for  wliose 
elevation  he  labored,  should  be  permitted  to  lay  chaplets  of 
remembrance  upon  "  Warrington's  "  grave.  Mary  Clemmer 
(in  "  The  Independent " )  wrote  thus  of  him :  — 

"  There  are  faces,  just  to  think  of  which,  shut  away  m  the  darkness 
of  the  grave,  from  the  glory  of  the  world  and  the  loving  glances  of 
their  kind,  is  enough  to  make  one  shudder. 

"As  I  trace  these  lines  in  memory  of  one  I  love,  I  feel  impelled  to 
lay  a  little  leaf  of  praise  on  the  new-made  grave  of  one  I  never  saw. 
I  want  to  pay  my  tribute  to  the  memory  of  William  S.  Robinson,  if 
only  from  the  fact  that  he  belonged  to  that  order  of  men,  who,  of  all 
men  in  our  country,  are  intellectually  the  most  unselfish,  who  give 
the  most  lavishly,  and  receive,  in  return,  the  most  abuse  and  the  least 


' '  WARRING  TON."  1 79 

reward.  There  are  irresponsible  persons,  wlio  like  to  call  them- 
selves journalists,  who  make  much  undue  mischief,  no  doubt;  and 
their  words  were  worthy  the  moral  calibre  of  the  men  who  last  week, 
in  the  Senate,  denounced  all  journalists  as  belonging  to  this  class. 
Nevertheless,  the  fact  remains,  that  there  are  many  men,  and  a  few 
women,  who,  turning  from  the  allurements  of  letters  as  an  art,  pour 
their  rich  gifts  without  ceasing  into  the  bottomless  abyss  of  the  daily 
press.  Their  rich  vitality  of  brain  and  heart,  consumed  hour  by  hour 
in  the  columns  of  a  daily  newspaper,  leaves  no  enduring  trace  in 
the  world  of  art  by  which  to  build  a  monument  to  their  name. 
They  rarely  live  to  be  old;  and,  when  suddenly  struck  down  in  what 
should  have  been  their  prime,  the  mighty  critic  calmly  records, 
'  Only  a  journalist,  —  a  mere  newspaper-writer.  He  has  written  noth- 
ing that  can  endure.'  No  niche,  however  obscure,  is  left  for  him  in 
'The  Histoi-y  of  American  Literature.'  No  less  the  seed  of  his 
thought  is  blown  to  the  world :  it  blooms,  and  bears  fruit,  in  the  men- 
tal life  of  his  generation.  He  is  the  maker  and  master  of  opinion; 
he  is  the  kindler  and  quickener  of  ideas ;  he  is  the  defender  and 
stronghold  of  principle;  he  is  the  martyr  of  thought  and  of  toil,  cut 
down  at  his  post,  and  with  the  utmost  alacrity  forgotten.  No  thought- 
ful person  could  have  read  the  letters  of  '  Warrington '  in  '  The 
Springfield  Republican'  for  the  last  decade  without  feeling  that  in 
themselves  they  were  an  education.  '  Junius '  never  wrote  more 
absolutely  'to  the  point.'  You  might  differ  none  the  less  that  you 
knew  they  were  wise,  prophetic,  and  illuminated  with  that  calm,  clear 
intelligence,  that  breadth  of  mental  outlook,  that  amounts  to  an 
added  sense,  —  a  second  sight. 

"I  am  no  haunter  of  graveyards:  but  I  went  to  Mount  Auburn, 
where  Charles  Sumner  rests,  on  the  hilltop,  facing  the  rising  sun, 
with  a  vision  of  Claude-like  beauty  at  his  feet,  that  must  have  given 
joy  to  his  living  eyes;  I  Avent  to  Sleepy  Hollow,  where  Thoreau 
and  Hawthorne  lie ;  and  the  thought  of  these  three  sleepers  was  fuller 
companionship  than  can  be  often  found  amid  the  living.  On  a  tree- 
shaded  hilltop  overlooking  the  sunny  meadows  of  Concord  is  Tho- 
reau's  grave:  its  discolored  headstone  seems  to  tell  that  this  offspring 
of  Nature  has  been  returned  back  into  the  elements  again;  that 
'earth  that  nourished  him'  has  claimed  'his  growth,  to  be  resolved 
to  earth  again.'  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  path,  a  headstone  a 
few  inches  high  has  inscribed  upon  it  'Nathaniel  Hawthorne,'  —  no 
more;  and  a  few  steps  farther  on  is  the  green  plot  that  waits  the  form 
of  Emerson,  when  that  serene  spirit  shall  take  on  immortality.  In 
this  high  company,  the  comrades  of  his  youth,  in  this  place  of  peace, 
they  have  laid  down  the  body  of  the  tired  journalist.  His  name  may 
be  '  writ  in  water ;  '  but  his  essence  sumves  in  indestructible  things. 
Vale,  vale ! " 


180  MEMOIR  OF  "WARRINGTON." 

Mauy  kind  messages  were  received,  all  bearing  the  same 
tribute  of  love  and  reverence  for  the  dear  dead  friend. 

"  I  wish  I  could  recall  the  words  of  Dr.  Bartol  commemorative  of 
Mr.  Robinson.  They  were  too  good  and  fresh  to  be  forgotten.  I 
think  you  could  not  fail  to  have  been  made  glad  for  that  jDast  true  and 
noble  life,  and  comforted  at  the  hour  when  your  beloved  was  at  rest 
from  his  labors,  lying  in  his  pleasant,  sunny  library,  among  his 
friends.  I  had  never  thought  '  Warrington's '  pen  too  shari),  and 
have  always  rejoiced  and  confided  in  it."  H.  W. 

"Every  just  and  good  cause  has  lost  a  fearless  champion,  and  there 
is  one  less  good  man  on  earth."  M.  F.  W. 

"  When  an  earnest,  whole-souled  man  is  taken  out  of  this  world,  I 
have  another  argument  that  immortality  is  real.  It  cannot  be  that 
all  the  zeal,  the  ripe  thought,  the  earnest  purpose,  and  the  spirit  that 
worked  only  for  good  results,  is  suddenly  stopped,  to  work  and  live 
no  more  forever.    Life  would  indeed  be  a  farce  if  this  were  true." 

E.  S. 

In  reviewing  or  summing  up  the  character  of  a  man,  there 
is  a  side  not  often  touched  upon,  —  the  side  that  women  know. 
It  was  the  good  fortune  of  "  "Warrington's  "  wife  to  be  able 
to  read  and  listen  to  the  estimates  of  his  character,  and  make 
no  mental  reservations.  His  life  alwaj's  illustrated  those 
principles  of  purity  and  steadfastness  that  his  eloquent  pen 
advocated.  If  the  suggestions  of  such  a  life  teach  even  a 
few  of  his  countrymen,  that  to  be  a  leader  of  parties  and  the 
people  means  something  besides  office-holding,  worldly  ease, 
and  advancement,  his  biography  will  not  have  been  written 
in  vaiu. 


''WAKEINGTON"    PEN- POKTR AITS. 


"A  man  is  not  to  be  reverenced  before  the  truth;  and 
therefore  I  will  speak  out." 

Socrates  in  Plato's  "Republic." 


"  WAEEINGTON  "  -  PEN-POETEAITS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  FREE-SOIL  PAETY.i 

[Worcester,  Wednesday  nigbt,  June  28,  1848.] 

THE   "WORCESTER   CONVENTION.'^ 

Mr.  Giddings  finished  the  speech  he  began  in  the  after- 
noon, and  was  followed  b}'  Rev.  Mr.  Lovejoy  of  Cambridge 
(Libert}'^),  who  made  a  verj-  effective  speech.  He  spoke  a 
little  against  Van  Burcn,  but  coupled  Hale  and  Giddings 
together,  and  brought  out  a  great  shouting.  I  am  writing  in 
the  hall,  which  is  crowded.  The  enthusiasm,  as  3'ou  editors 
say,  is  "  tremendous."     It  beats  the  daytime  out  and  out. 

Charles  F.  Adams  next  spoke,  and  cut  in  sharp  and  keen, 
but  with  more  good-nature  than  usual.  Just  now  he  is 
scorning  those  who  voted  for  the  War  Bill,  and  has  jerked  out 
two  or  three  sentences  quite  in  the  style  of  his  father.  The 
speakers  say  a  good  deal  about  "  the  late  Whig  party." 
Quer}' :  Will  it  be  too  late  for  supper  next  November,  or 
not? 

1  The  Free-Soil  party  was,  as  its  name  denotes,  the  party  of  freed(im 
and  antislavcry,  and  contained  the  radical  elements  of  the  Whij;s  and 
the  Democrats,  and  absorbed  tlic  Liberty  party. 

2  This  was  "  Wan-iu.i;ton's"  lirst  letter  to  the  Springfield  Republican. 
Ho  wrote  no  otlier  f(n-  that  paper  until  18o(i,  when  he  assumed  the  nom 
deplume  of  "  Warrington." 

8  The  Libci'tij  part'/  were  the  Siuion-purc  anti.slavery  men;  not  the 
Garrisonians,  for  they  did  not  believe  in  voting. 

183 


184  "WARRINGTON:" 

Giddings  made  a  good  hit  in  his  speech.  He  said  he  liked 
a  good  Democrat  rather  better  than  he  did  a  good  Whig 
(cheers  from  the  Loco^  section)  ;  "for,"  he  added  slowlj^, 
"  the  A'alue  of  an  article  is  greatly  enhanced  by  its  rarity." 
It  was  the  Whigs'  turn  to  shout  now;  and  they  didn't  do 
any  thing  else.  Very  fair,  wasn't  it?  C.  F.  Adams  has 
just  said  the  Whig  part}'  is  so  corrupt,  that  it  is  in  the  condi- 
tion of  one  who  is  not  to  be  believed  on  oath.  Said  he,  "I 
am  free  of  it.  I  am  ready  to  go  forward  in  this  movement." 
He  closed  with  the  old  words,  "  Live,  or  die,"  &c. ;  and  the 
cheering  was  the  loudest  j-ou  ever  heard. 

Sumner  followed,  and  is  now  talking.  His  speech  is  a 
thing  of  shreds,  and  happy ;  pretty  much  as  his  speeches 
commonly  are.  It  has  considerable  effect.  He  compared 
the  slave  power  to  the  Bastille :  whereupon  James  Buffum 
of  Lynn  sang  out,  "The  Bastille  is  a  gentleman  compared 
to  it."  General  laugh,  of  course;  though  where's  the 
wit? 

Sumner  is  going  into  the  heroics,  Thermopylas,  &c. 
J.  S.  Eldredge  is  clapping ;  Elizur  Wright,  ditto :  but  I 
think  it  is  rather  deep  for  common  folks.  He  read  a  letter 
from  E.  L.  Hamlin  of  Cleveland,  O.,  who  saj's  that  all  was 
union  and  enthusiasm  at  the  Columbus  Free-Soil  Convention  ; 
that  it  was  the  largest  since  1840 ;  that  the  State  Liberty 
Convention  met  the  next  dax,  but  did  little  besides  ratif}- 
the  proceedings  of  the  People's  Convention ;  and  that  the 
Reserve  will  give  twenty  thousand  majority  for  the  Buffalo 
nomination. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  meeting  is  rising  under  Sumner's 
finel}'- turned  and  lamp-smelling  periods.     It  is  up  to  fever- 

1  Locofoco.  The  Locofoco  party,  so  called,  was  the  radical  portion  of 
the  Democrats.  At  a  meetiug  at  Tammany  Hall,  the  radical  and  the 
couservative  Democrats  quarrelled;  and,  at  a  most  important  moment 
in  the  debate,  the  conservative  portion  caused  the  gas  to  be  turned  off, 
leaving  the  hall  in  darkness;  but  the  radicals  produced  their  locofoco, 
or  lucifer  matches  (as  friction  matches  were  then  called),  and  relighted 
the  hall  at  once.  In  derision,  they  were  called  Locofocos;  but  they 
proudly  assumed  the  name. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  185 

heat  at  least.  He  says  the  Avar  debt  is  a  hundred  and  eight)' 
million  dollars.     Isn't  this  setting  it  rather  too  high? 

Elizur  Wright  has  just  burst  out  with  an  anti-tarifF  inter- 
lude, agreeably  diversifying  the  scene. 

Sumner  is  apparentl}'  closing,  and  is  piling  it  up  on  the 
j-oung  men.  He  does  up  the  transcendentalism  of  politics 
yer)'  well ;  but  would  he  make  a  good  vote-distributer  ? 
He  is  done  ;  and  calls  resound  for  Edward  L.  Kej'es,  who 
comes  forward,  after  a  personal  explanation  from  Elizur 
Wright,  receives  three  nice  cheers,  and  speaks  well. 

E.  R.  Hoar  followed  in  a  first-rate  speech.  He  saj's  he 
knows  that  Mr.  Webster  gives  his  cordial  sympathy  and 
respect  to  all  who  are  in  this  movement,  and  that  he  has 
never  aided  in  the  Taylor  movement  in  any  degree. 

KESOLUTION   PASSED   AT   WORCESTER   JUNE   28,  1848. 

"  Resolved.,  That  Massachusetts  wears  no  cJiains,  and 
spurns  all  bribes.  Massadaisetts  goes  now,  and  will  ever  go, 
for  free  soil  and  free  men,  for  free  lips  and  a  free  press,  for 
a  free  land  and  a  free  world."  ^ 

[Boston  Daily  Republican,  Oct.  5,  1848.] 
RUFUS   CHOATE   ON   TAYLOR. 

The  Taylor  party  will  sacrifice  the  Wihnot  Proviso  in 
Congress,  just  exactly  as  they  did  in  the  Convention  at  Phila- 
delphia, if  it  is  necessary  to  their  success. 

With  Rufus  Choate,  politics,  like  law,  constitutes  .an  ex- 
ercise of  the  faculties  of  reasoning  and  imagination  solely. 
To  get  a  murderer  acquitted  upon  a  plea  of  somnambulism, 
or  to  get  a  president  made  by  a  process  which  will  betray 
liberty  with  a  kiss,  is  simply  a  trial  of  refined  skill :  it  is 
nothing  else.  The  people  might  listen  as  a  jur}'  would 
listen,  all  the  while  taking  in  an  intoxicating  draught,  until 
the  moral  perception  had  become  so  completel}-  blunted,  that 
the  individuals  would  be  read}-  to  consider  murder  and  arson 

1  Written  by  "Warrington,"  who  was  Secretary  of  tbe  Convention. 


186  ''WARRINGTON: " 

quite  equivalent  to  Arcadian  simplicity  and  virtue,  and  fraud 
and  treachery  no  worse  than  truth  and  honesty ;  and  all  this 
would  be,  doubtless,  held  to  be  fair,  provided  it  succeeds : 
but,  unfortunatel}',  there  is  a  stern  and  calm  tribunal  remain- 
ing behind,  at  which  the  tricks  of  magicians,  whether  legal 
or  political,  do  not  avail,  and  where  a  single  grain  of  truth, 
however  infinitesimally  small,  outweighs  a  whole  universe  of 
error. 

Mr.  Choate's  argument  at  Salem  in  behalf  of  Gen.  Tay- 
lor, like  his  argument  in  behalf  of  Tirrell,  told  well  at  the 
time ;  but  who  that  knows  right  from  wrong  will  ever  be 
able  to  look  back  upon  either,  and  j^raise  the  moral  natui-e  of 
the  maker? 

[Boston  Daily  Eepublican,  October,  1848.] 
GEN.    TAYLOR   AS    THE    CANDIDATE    OF    THE    LABORING-MAN. 

It  will  be  well  for  the  laboring-men  to  think  of  these 
things,  —  the  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  mechanics,  the  manufac- 
turers. Is  it  altogether  the  best  thing  they  can  do  to  give 
their  votes  for  a  man,  who,  when  he  wants  an  agriculturist, 
buys  him  ;  when  he  wants  a  blacksmith,  buys  him,  pa3-s  seve- 
ral hundred  dollars  for  him,  uses  him  as  long  as  he  pleases, 
and  then  sells  him  again?  Is  the  laborer  of  the  Northern 
Free  States  likely  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  laborer  every- 
where, likel}'  to  increase  the  "  dignity  of  labor, ^'  which  thej' 
talk  so  much  about,  hy  casting  a  vote  for  this  Zachary  Ta^-lor? 

Hosea  Biglow  somewhere  remarks,  — 

"  Folks  that  make  black  slaves  of  niggers 
"Want  to  make  white  slaves  of  you." 

This  is  true.   The  man  who  bu3's  Peter  and  Jack  and  Xelson, 

—  black  men,  —  to  work  and  die  for  him,  would  just  as 
readilv  bu}-  Johnson  and  Thompson,  and  Smith  and  Jones, 

—  loliite  men,  —  if  he  could  do  so.  What  sort  of  a  president 
is  this  for  a  free  republic  of  laboring-men  ? 


i 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  187 

[Lowell  American,  December,  ISiO.] 
THE   PARTY   OP   FREEDOM. 

There  is  one  part}-,  thank  Heaven,  that  has  only  one  face  ; 
and  that  is  the  Free-Soil  part}-.  Their  object  is  undisguised. 
David  Wilmot,  Charles  Allen,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  and  their 
associates,  are  understood :  their  fellow-members  know  pre- 
cisely where  thej'  are,  and  what  they  demand.  The}'  are  for 
freedom  ;  they  avow  it ;  they  pledge  themselves  to  it  at  all 
times  ;  they  ask  and  expect  no  favor  from  men  pledged  to 
the  other  side  :  if  they  vote  for  or  against  a  man  or  a  meas- 
ure, it  is  that  freedora  may  triumph,  not  party. 

No  man  is  allowed  to  represent  their  position  as  different 
from  what  it  is :  there  is  no  need  of  it ;  for  every  man. 
North  and  South,  P2ast  and  "West,  knows  what  they  are,  and 
what  they  want. 

[Lowell  American,  April  22,  1850.]^ 
THE    CLAY    COMPROMISE.^ 

Henry  Clay  is  the  man  who  is  principally  responsible  for 
this  mischief.  Foote  might  have  blustered  ;  Webster  might 
have  apostatized  :  but,  without  Clay's  management,  the  thing 
could  not  have  succeeded.  Something  like  half  a  million 
of  people,  more  or  less,  in  these  United  States,  think  that 
they  were  begotten  by  Henry  Clay,  and  must  implicitly  obey 
or  reverently  follow  him.  Every  word  lie  speaks,  every  act 
he  performs,  is  received  by  them  with  loud  acclaim :  Clay  is 
infallible ;  Clay  can  do  no  wrong.  His  position  as  a  quasi 
friend  of  emancipation  in  Kentucky  has  helped  him  in  his 
diabolical  scheme  of  compromise.  He  has  taken  advantage 
of  the  sentiments  of  his  followers  to  give  the  victory  to  the 
« 

1  Henry  Clay  was  the  "  great  compromiser."  His  three  most  impor- 
tant compromises  were,  1st,  the  Missouri,  in  1820;  2(1,  the  Tariff,  in  1S.''<;'.; 
3d,  tlie  California  or  "  Omnibus  "  Compromise,  in  1850,  so  called  because 
it  contained  or  held  several  others,  the  most  conspicuous  one  being  Ihe 
Fugitive-slave  Law,  wliich  occupied  a  front  seat.  This  was  Mr.  Clay's 
last  compromise,  because,  as  C.  C.  Hazewell  said,  "  he  died  shortly 
after;  and  there  is  no  comi^romise  with  death." 


188 


"WAKRINGTON 


slaveholders.  Professing  in  loud-sounding  language  that 
he  would  never  vote  to  extend  slavery  another  inch,  it  is  his 
action,  more  than  that  of  all  others,  which  will  give  slaver}- 
a  victory  in  this  deadly  contest.  We  humbly  suggest  that  it 
is  about  time  for  the  people  of  the  North  to  stop  idolizing 
this  arch-devil  of  the  whole  conspirac3\ 


4 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  189 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  FUGITIVE-SLAVE  LAW. 

[Lowell  American,  Oct.  23,  1850.] 

WHO    IS    RESPOKSIBLE? 

The  laio  itself  is  infamous,  and  not  the  interpretation  of  it. 
Those  ivho  made  the  law  are  responsible,  and  not  those  par- 
ticularly ^yho  are  willing  to  enforce  it ;  though  these  last  are 
bad  enough.  It  is  "Webster,  and  Fillmore,  and  Eliot,  and 
Ilibbard,  and  Peaslee,  and  other  Whigs  and  Democrats  who 
sanctioned  the  law,  that  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  it. 
Will  anybod3'  pretend  that  Fillmore  is  not  properly  classed? 
Antislaver}^  Whigs,  how  does  your  president  look,  packed 
(like  the  centre-mackerel  in  a  close-packed  barrel)  between 
Cla}',  Cass,  Dickinson,  Webster,  Foote,  and  Houston?  — 
slaveholders  or  doughfaces,  ever}'  one  of  them. 

It  is  THE  LAvy  which  ouglit  to  be  anathematized,  — 
Webster's  law,  which  he  agreed  to  support  "to  the  fullest 
extent ;  "  Fillmore's  law,  which  he  "  approved  ;  "  the  law  of 
the  AVhig  and  Democratic  slaveholders  and  doughfaces  who 
passed  it,  or  dodged  so  that  it  might  be  passed  :  it  is  "  the 
law"  which  must  be  repealed,  and  which  must  be  resisted 
until  it  is  repealed. 

[Lowell  American,  Nov.  8,  1850.] 
THE    MAN-STEALING   LAW  :    HOW   SHALL   WE   CONDEMN   IT  ? 

One  of  the  citizens  of  Lowell  who  went  to  Canada  during 
the  panic  which  immediately'  followed  the  passage  of  the 
slave-catchino-  law  has  returned.     He  is  in  doubt  whether  it 


190  ''WARRINGTON:" 

is  safe  for  him  to  rGmain  liere.  If  he  cannot  live  here,  he 
will  go  to  England. 

Just  think  of  it,  if  3-ou  have  patience  to  think  of  an}- 
thing.  Here  is  a  3'oung  man  of  good  appearance,  scarcel}' 
a  shade  blacker  than  the  arch-devil  Webster,  who  is  at  the 
head  of  the  man-stealing  conspiracy  ;  well-behaved,  capable 
of  earning  a  good  living,  and  in  all  respects  as  good  a 
citizen  as  the  average  of  men  in  the  community.  He  has 
committed  no  crime.  Crime  I  —  he  has  shown  himself  to  be 
worth}'  of  liberty  and  equal  citizenship  by  taking  himself 
out  of  slaver}'  into  a  land  of  freedom.  He  took  no  man's 
property  when  he  fled.  The  legs  upon  which  he  walked  were 
his  own,  and  not  his  master's  ;  the  tongue  with  which  he 
spoke,  the  e^-es  and  ears  with  which  he  saw  and  heard,  were 
his  own,  and  not  an}'  other  man's.  He  is  guilty  of  no  crime  ; 
3'et,  by  the  law  of  the  land,  he  is  liable  to  be  seized  at  an}' 
moment,  hurried  before  a  commissioner,  and,  without  a  trial, 
sent  back  into  the  hell  from  which  he  escaped ! 

Is  not  this  monstrous?  Will  men  endure  it,  —  men  with 
hearts  in  their  bosoms,  men  with  Bibles  in  their  dwellings, 
men  pretending  to  be  believers  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  the  Sefmon  on  the  Mount?  We  will  not 
believe  it. 

[Lowell  American,  Nov.  22,  1850.] 
"CONQUERING   PREJUDICES." 

Daniel  Webster  advised  the  people  to  "conquer  their 
prejudices."  They  have  been  remarkably  successful  in 
doing  so.  The  Whig  party  held  power  in  this  State  mainly 
because  people  were  prejudiced  in  its  favor ;  but,  it  having 
become  Websterized,  the  people  conquered  their  prejudices 
in  its  favor,  and  voted  it  out  of  power. 

There  were  prejudices  of  thirty  years'  standing  in  favor  of 
Daniel  Webster  ;  but  when  he  set  the  people  the  example  of 
conquering  what  were  supposed  to  be  his  inveterate  preju- 
dices against  slaA'cry,  and  went  in  for  the  support  of  that 
institution,    the    people   conquered   their  prejudices   in   his 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  .191 

favor,  and  cast  him  out  in  disgrace.  These  are  cheering 
instances  of  success  in  conquering  prejudices  ;  and  we  hope 
Mr.  Webster  will  be  pleased  with  the  docilit}-  aiul  aptness  of 
his  pupils. 

[Lowell  American,  Feb.  21,  1851.] 
RESCUE   OF   SHADRACn. 

We  rejoice  with  jo}'  unspeakable  that  the  black  men  of 
Boston  had  the  courage  and  humanit}'  to  attempt  and 
successfulh^  carry  through  that  rescue,  in  spite  of  the  majesty 
of  law  with  which  the  United-States  l)loodhound  commis- 
sioner had  clothed  himself.  It  was  a  glorious  event,  —  the 
most  glorious  event  that  Boston  has  honored  herself  with 
for  many  j^ears.  The  two  hundred  "niggers"  who  rushed 
into  the  court-room  on  Saturda}',  and  bore  Shadrach  into 
libert}-,  have  given  an  honorable  name  to  Boston,  which  not 
even  the  Toryism  of  Webster,  Choate,  Curtis,  Hallett,  and 
Co.,  can  make  the  people  forget.  That  rescue  will  be  cited 
fifty  3-ears  hence,  j-es,  twenty  jears  hence,  as  one  of  the  chief 
glories  of  Boston ;  while  the  memor}-  of  the  Tories  who 
clamor  against  it  shall  rot  in  oblivion. 

Who  are  the  "  leading  men  "  Avho  are  so  indignant  at  the 
violation  of  law?  State-street  brokers  and  Milk-street 
jobbers  who  got  up  a  ' '  ten-cent ' '  rebellion  against  the 
sub-treasury  law,  and  would  have  been  glad  to  see  the 
post-office  mobbed  for  requiring  specie  payments  ;  men  who 
hold  mortgages  on  slave-property,  and  some  of  whom,  quite 
likely,  are  guilt}'  of  being  concerned  in  slave-trading ;  men 
who  mobbed  Garrison  in  1835,  and  Thompson  in  18o0,  and 
who  have  rejoiced  at  every  proslavery  outrage  for  the  last 
twenty  j-ears  ;  men  who  sanctioned  the  annexation  of  Texas 
and  the  Mexican  war,  because  new  markets  were  thereby 
opened  ;  men  who,  with  the  most  submissive  temper,  have 
seen  their  own  seamen  imprisoned  in  South  Carolina,  and 
have  rejoiced  at  the  mob-law  which  sent  Mr.  Hoar  home  to 
Massachusetts,  because  tbev  dared  not  disturb  the  good 
understanding  between  the  planters  and  the  manufacturers, 


192  ''WAEEINGTO^: " 

—  these  are  the  meu  who  are  so  struck  •with  horror  at  the 
proceedings  of  an  "African  mob,"  which,  actuated  by  a 
sentiment  which  does  honor  to  human  nature,  gallantly'  seized 
a  brother  from  tlie  clutches  of  slavery,  and  sent  him  to  a 
land  of  freedom. 

Even  now  they  are  rejoicing  because  the  grog-shop  gradu- 
ates of  Springfield  have  hung  in  eflSg}'  an  English  gentleman^ 
whose  oijl}'  offence  is  speaking  against  tlie  darling  institution 
of  slaver}",  as  he  has  spoken  against  slavery  of  everj^  form 
at  home.  Is  not  the  testimon}-  of  these  men  in  favor  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  law  a  ver}'  valuable  testimonj'  ? 

[Lowell  American,  April  14,  1851.] 
HUMILIATIOX    OF    MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  unconstitutional  and  infamous  enactment  of  a  cougi'ess 
of  drunkards,  swindlers,  and  doughfaces,  has  triumphed  not 
onl}'  over  the  conscience  and  the  opinion,  but  over  the  consti- 
tution and  laws,  of  Massachusetts.  The  law  of  1843,  forbid- 
ding State  officers  to  aid  in  kidnapping,  has  been  openl}',  boldl}', 
and  knowingly  violated  by  Boston  officers,  under  the  orders  of 
the  mayor  and  the  State-street  power  behind  the  mayor  ;  and 
even  the  criminal  process  of  the  State  has  been  suspended  bj' 
the  corrupt  advice  of  the  State  and  District  attornej's. 

For  eight  days,  the  criminal  laws  of  Massachusetts  were  pai*- 
alyzed  and  abrogated  b}^  the  claim  of  a  Georgia  slaveholder 
to  his  "  propert}'."  Slavery  is  stronger  to-day  in  Massa- 
chusetts than  it  is  in  Georgia  ;  for  in  Georgia  the  claim  of 
the  owner  would  have  to  give  way  to  the  criminal  process, 
v.iiile  in  this  State  the  criminal  process  yields  to  the  property 
claim. 

A  man  found  in  Massachusetts,^  and  claiming  to  be  one  of 

1  George  Thompson. 

2  George  T.  Curtis  yesterday  issued  a  warrant  against  Alfred  Sims,  a 
fugitive  from  Savaunali,  on  the  application  of  Setli  J.  Thomas,  the 
legal  pimp  of  the  slave-catchers.  Police-OfBcer  Asa  O.  Butmau  was 
considered  the  stauchest  hound  for  the  operation  of  running  down 
the  fugitive;  and  the  business  was  conftded  to  him  in  connection  ^^'ith 


PEX-PORTEAITS.  193 

its  citizens,  is  seized  by  an  officer,  who  acts  in  violation  of 
law,  upon  a  lying  accusation  of  theft ;  is  hurried  before  a 
tribunal  unknown  to  the  Constitution  ;  is  refused  a  jury  trial ; 
and,  upon  the  oaths  of  two  or  three  men  who  are  by  their 
profession  scoundrels,  is  can-ied  off  into  slavery.  All  sorts 
of  tricks  unauthorized  by  the  law  —  volunteer  acts  of  infamy 
(such  as  the  trumpery-  process  issued  by  Ilallett  to  contravene 
the  criminal  process  of  the  State)  —  are  resorted  to,  to  carry 
this  inoffending  man  into  perpetual  bondage,  to  subject  him 
to  a  life  of  unrequited  toil,  diversiQcd  only  with  the  exercise 
of  the  whip  and  the  branding-iron. 

Who  has  done  this?  Not  Massachusetts?  No.  The 
humiliation  belongs  to  Massachusetts ;  but  the  infamy  be- 
longs to  Boston  alone.  The  chained  court-house,  the  mili- 
tary array,  the  extraordinary  police-force  by  night  and  da}', 
—  these  things  show  that  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty 
that  eveii  in  Boston  the  law  could  be  enforced :  nowhere  else 
in  the  State  would  there  have  been  the  least  prospect  of  suc- 
cess. It  is  onl}'  in  the  midst  of  a  corrupt  public  sentiment 
that  such  an  infamous  law  can  be  enforced  ;  and  the  country 
is  sound  to  the  core  on  this  question. 

Perhaps  it  is  too  sweeping  to  sa}'  that  Boston  is  responsi- 
ble for  this.     It  is  a  combination  of  the   money  and  the 

augur-liole  Byrnes,  whose  teeth  it  was  feared  might  give  out.  Auother 
hound,  named  Sleeper,  was  also  engaged.  Butman  and  Sleeper  about 
six  o'clock  discovered  Sims  and  another  negro  walking  along  Ann 
Street.  Butman  and  Sleeper  fastened  their  fangs  to  him;  and  the 
negroes  showed  fight.  In  the  struggle,  Butman  was  stabbed,  —  one 
account  says  in  the  groin,  another  paper  says  in  the  leg,  — but  whether 
in  one  of  his  hind-legs  or  fore-legs  does  not  appear. 

Having  made  the  grab,  the  hounds  forced  their  prisoner  into  a 
carriage,  and  drove  off  to  the  court-house.  Another  struggle  took  place 
here;  but  the  fugitive  was  safely  secured.  Thomas  Sims,  the  alleged 
fugitive,  was  brought  up  before  Commissioner  Curtis  on  Friday.  Seth 
J.  Thomas  appeared  for  the  (.laimant;  and  11.  Rantoul,  jun.,  Charles 
G.  Loring,  and  S.  E.  Sewall,  for  the  prisoner.  Court  Square  presented 
an  exciting  scene.  There  were  many  people  in  the  noighborliood. 
Chains  were  placed  round  the  court-house;  and  Judge  Sliaw  and  Judge 
Wells  were  obliged  to  crenel  under  the  chain  in  order  to  get  into  the 
court-house.  —  "W.  S.  K.  in  Lowell  American,  April  3,  1851. 


194  ''WARRINGTON:" 

Websterism  of  Boston  which  is  responsible,  —  the  corrupting 
political  influence  of  the  most  corrupt  politician  that  ever 
cursed  the  country  with  his  presence,  combined  with  the  base 
love  of  gain,  which  would  sacrifice  all  law,  and  all  conscience, 
and  all  liberty,  for  the  profits  of  slaveholding  trade.  It  is  the 
fifteen  hundred  '■^respectable  men,"  who,  according  to  Tukey, 
volunteered  to  aid  in  carr3-ing  Sims  back  into  slavery,  who  have 
done  this.  Their  money  corrupted  the  pulpit  and  tlie  press  ; 
their  political  influence  controlled  the  city  authorities,  and 
placed  the  laws  of  the  State  at  defiance,  that  John  B.  Bacon 
might  carry  oflT  his  "nigger."  Oh,  what  a  triumph  of  Web- 
ster-Whiggery !  "What  a  victory  of  cotton  over  the  conscience 
of  the  people ! 

[Lowell  American,  April  25,  1851.] 
ELECTION   OF   CHARLES    SUMNER.^ 

Glad,  inspiring,  invigorating  news  is  that  which  we  publish 
to-da}'.  Charles  Sumner  is  chosen  senator  for  six  years 
from  Massachusetts.  An  able,  eloquent,  and,  what  is  better, 
a  true,  honest,  and  pure  man,  is  chosen  to  represent  the 
people  of  the  State.  Is  that  all?  No.  The  triumph  of  one 
man,  however  able  and  honest,  is  next  to  nothing.  The 
great  triumph  is  in  this,  that  the  principles  of  the  old  Com- 
monwealth have  been  re-asserted  and  vindicated  after  a  year 
of  darkness  and  doubt  cast  over  them  by  the  great  treachery 
of  the  7th   of  March,  1850.      The  honor  of  the  State  is 

1  Mr.  Sumner  was  elected  on  the  twenty-sixth  ballot;  and  there 
were  twenty-six  candidates,  including  Mr.  Sumner.  Their  names 
■were,  — 

Charles  Sumner,  Boston;  R.  C.  'Winthrop,  Boston;  H.  H.  Childs, 
Pittsfield;  Pliny  Merrick,  Worcester;  Isaac  Davis,  Worcester;  R.  Ran- 
toul,  juu.,  Beverly;  G.  S.  Boutwell,  Groton;  S.  C.  Phillips,  Salem;  Ben- 
jamin F.  Hallett,  Boston;  G.  N.  Briggs,  Pittsfield;  John  Mills,  Spring- 
field; Samuel  Hoar,  Concord;  J.  H.  Briggs,  Nantucket;  Caleb  Cushing, 
Newbury;  Fr.  Coggswell,  Bedford;  H.  W.  Bishop,  Lenox;  Isaac  O. 
Barnes,  Boston;  D.  Henshaw,  Leicester;  S.  A.  Eliot,  Boston;  S.  D. 
Bradford,  Roxbury;  A.  Walker,  North  Brookfield;  N.  P.  Banks,  jun., 
Waltham;  G.  P.  Osgood,  Andover;  A.  Nettleton,  Chicopee;  Charles 
Allen,  Worcester;  Horace  Mann,  Newton. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  195 

sustained :    her   banner   is   again  borne   aloft  by  a   strong 
hand. 

This  is  one  of  the  great  retributive  events  -which  make  an 
era  in  a  State,  showing  that  the  people  are  stronger  than 
any  man,  or  clique  of  men ;  showing  that  the  people  have 
principles  3'et,  and  are  not  to  be  led  from  them  by  any  man, 
however  great,  or  however  much  he  has  been  trusted.  It  is 
in  this  view  that  the  election  of  Charles  Sumner  is  a  great 
event,  worth  more  than  a  score  of  presidential  victories 
carried  by  accident,  by  a  popular  hurrali,  or  b}^  a  conceal- 
ment of  party  issues. 


[Lowell  American,  Aug.  1,  1851.] 
THE   JUVENILE    MOVEMENT    FOR    MR.    WEBSTER. 

"We  have  already  mentioned  the  fact,  that  sixty  of  the  bo3'S 
at  Groton  Academy  have  signed  a  paper  signifying  that  they 
believe  Mr.  Webster  to  be  the  great  defender  and  expounder 
of  the  Constitution  and  Union,  and  that  they  desire  that  he 
shall  be  our  next  President.  Dear  little  fellows  !  that  is  all 
they  can  do  for  the  expounder  ;  the  law  not  allowing  them  to 
vote  for  several  j-ears  to  come.  We  hear  that  this  juvenile 
movement  is  not  confined  to  the  schools.  It  is  spontaneously 
spreading  into  the  nurseries.  The  cradles  and  cribs  resound 
with  the  praise  of  Webster ;  and  many  an  occupant  of  a 
high-chair  wields  his  rattle  with  vigor  in  enforcing  his  claims 
to  the  presidency.  We  are  permitted  to  publish  the  follow- 
ing paper,  which  has  been  signed  b}'^  a  large  number  of  spon- 
taneous young  babies  in  one  of  our  most  fasliionable  neigh- 
borhoods :  — 

"  The  sub-scrib-bers,  itty  babies,  liv-ing  in  Low-ell,  here-by  sig-iii-fy 
to  our  faders  and  our  muzzers,  that  we  con-sid-er  Dan-il  Webster, 
who  made  the  Spell-ing-book,  the  best  man  for  the  Pres-i-dent  of  the 
U-ni-ty  Tates.  "We  un-ner-tand  that  he  was  a  good  itty  hoy,  and  is 
now  a  great  big  man,  hav-ing  pre-served  his  con-sti-tu-tlon  by  the 
free  use  of  cold  water  all  his  days,  aid-ed  by  fre-qucnt  and  co-pi-ous 
draughts  from  the  pub-lie  teat.    This  ex-am-ple  we  f ol-low ;  cold  wa-ter 


196 


"WARRINGTON- :" 


and  titty  Ijeing  our  chief  sup-port.  And  we  there-fore  hope  all  itty 
babies  will  be  Wigs,  and  sup-port  the  Ex-pound-er  of  these  prin-ci-ples. 
We  fling  our  di-a-pers  to  the  breeze,  and  huz-za  for  Web-ster,  the 
baby's  choice." 


(Signed  by) 


Jack  Hoener. 
Tot  E.  Wiggiks. 
Sis  Austin". 
BuEB  Hawley. 
SuNY  Pekkixs. 


Johnny  Beown. 
Kitty  Peaslee. 
Cally  Sampson. 
Geoegy  Beimmee,  and 

Sixty-five  others. 


[Lowell  American,  June  23,  1852. J 
POLITICAL    DEATH    OF    DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Daniel  Webster — there  is  a  political  end  to  him,  thauk 
God!  In  the  language  of  the  elder  Mr.  Weller,  "He  has 
been  took  at  last  with  that  ere  unawoidable  fit  of  the  staggers 
as  we  must  all  come  to,  and  has  gone  off  his  feed  forever." 
"  I  see  him,"  continued  Mr.  Weller,  "  getting  every  journey 
more  and  more  grogg3-.  I  sa3's  to  Samivel,  says  I,  '  Sami- 
vel,  my  boy,  the  Gray's  a-going  at  the  knees  ; '  and  now  my 
predilection  is  fatally  werifled.  And  him  as  I  never  could 
do  enough  to  serve,  or  to  show  my  likin'  for,  is  up  the  great 
universal  spout  o'  natur."  In  the  same  spirit,  State  Street 
laments  the  political  demise  of  Webster. 

But  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  who  will 
rejoice  at  his  downfall  as  in  that  of  an  enemy  of  the  human 
race.  On  the  7th  of  March,  1850,  he  sold  himself,  and  sold 
Massachusetts  and  the  North,  and  has  ever  since  been  lead- 
ing on  what  Rantoul  calls  a  "  national  slave-hunt."  All 
his  speeches,  all  his  letters,  all  his  conversations,  have  had 
this  one  object,  —  the  securing  of  slaveholding  support  for 
the  presideuc}'  by  his  zeal  and  alacrity  in  catching  runaway' 
slaves.  He  made  the  Fugitive-slave  Law^  and  he  has  exe- 
cuted it.  He  has  carried  terror  and  dismaj'  into  thousands 
of  innocent  families.  He  has  entered  upon  a  new  ivar  against 
the  hunted  and  peeled  victims  of  Southern  oppression,  and 
has  urged  on  the  bloodJiounds  to  seize,  and  caaiy  back  into 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  197 

hopeless  bondage,  men  born  as  free  as  himself,  and  as  worthy 
to  be  free. 

What  has  he  got  for  his  efforts  ?  Just  what  he  deserved,  — 
scorn,  neglect,  and  contempt.     Look  at  the  record :  — 

Fifty-third  ballot.     For  Webster,  2\} 

Where  is  the  Southern  support  for  which  the  great  apos- 
tate sold  out  ?  Not  to  be  found.  Not  even  as  a  compHment 
would  the  slaveholders  vote  for  him.  May  such  ever  be  the 
reward  of  trencher}' ! 

[Lo\Yell  American,  Sept.  20,  1852.] 
FOOD    FOR    POLITICIANS. 

'<May  you  eat  dirt!"  is  a  form  of  cursing  in  Turkey. 
But  the  same  phrase  —  when  the  dirt  is  scraped  up  below 
Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,  and  mixed  with  the  sweat  and 
blood  of  three  million  bondmen  —  may  be  set  down  as  a 
form  of  blessing  in  America.  Certainl}'  this  article  of  diet, 
so  prepared,  is  and  alwa3's  has  been  wholly-  indispensable  in 
the  training  of  champions  for  our  presidential  scuffles.  He 
who  could  gobble  down  the  most  of  it  with  the  greatest 
gusto  would  ever  find  the  biggest  crowd  of  backers  among 
our  Southern  managers  of  the  ring. 

Frank  Pierce,  who  brags  of  having  stuffed  himself  with 
this  unhallowed  pudding  ever  since  he  could  eat  solid  food, 
calculates  to  win  the  White  House  on  that  very  ground. 
And  thus  we  behold  a  substance  which  affords  a  byword  of 
the  bitterest  scorn  to  Moslems,  partaken  of,  as  adding  a 
relish  to  their  daily  bread,  by  ambitious  politicians,  and  sanc- 
timonious priests  who  pass  for  Christians;  and  it  doesn't 
appear  to  stick  in  their  throats  any  more  than  would  so 
much  treasury-pap  or  missionary-pie. 

1  "Webster  received  six  votes  for  President  out  of  New  England  in 
1852,  not  one  across  the  Potomac;  never  got  beyond  tliirty-two  votes.  — 
"W.  S.  R.  in  1B75. 


198  "WAHRINGTON: 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  WHIGS  AND  THE  COALITION. 

[Lowell  American,  1853.] 
LETTERS   FROM  THE   STATE   HOUSE. 

PoPTJLAR  ignorance  as  to  the  Great  and  General  Court 
is  absolutely  astonishing.  As  the  procession  to  hear  the 
election-sermon  was  passing  along  AYashington  Street,  one 
of  the  on-loolvers  put  the  question  to  another,  "  Who  are 
these?  "  He  was  told,  "  The  members  of  the  legislature  ;  " 
and  he  then  inquired,  "Which  is  Gen.  Pierce?"^  Being 
informed  that  he  had  passed,  surrounded  b}^  his  aides,  he 
hurried  forward,  caught  a  glimpse  of  Gov.  Boutwell,  and 
declared  that  "he  looks  jest  like  the  pickters." 

REPRESENTATIVE    BUMSTEAD.^ 
"  Fish,  fish,  are  you  doing  your  duty?  "  —  Arabian  Nights. 

My  friend  Melchezideck  Herringbone,  Esq.,  the  represen- 
tative from  Pig-whistle  Four  Corners,  who  is  monitor  of  the 
Ninth  Division,  intends  to  offer  an  order  to-morrow  for  an 
inquiry  into  the  expedienc}^  of  furnishing  further  protection 
to  peanuts,  to  the  end  that  these  interesting  little  wegetables 
may  be  furnished  with  a  thicker  skin,  to  guard  them  against 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather  and  the  teeth  of  rowdy  school- 
boys, against  the  peace  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  of  the 
statute  in  such  case  made  and  provided. 

1  Meaning  Pres.  Pierce. 

2  For  Representative  Bumstead,  continued,  see  Brief  Biographies. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  199 

And  Sampson  Deodatus  Bumstead,  Esq.,  the  distinguished 
and  veteran  legislator  from  Calf-Hollow  Half- Acre,  has  ex- 
hibited to  me  the  rough  draught  of  an  order  which  he  proposes 
to  introduce,  looking  to  the  repeal  of  the  laws  relative  to 
alewives  in  Taunton  Great  River,  —  laws  which  he  considers 
subversive  of  the  rights  of  the  finny  tribe,  tremendously 
oppressive  upon  fishermen,  unjust  to  haddock  and  herring, 
against  the  spirit  of  our  republican  institutions,  and  incon- 
sistent with  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  Isles  of  Shoals. 
When  tliese  orders  are  offered,  I  shall  say  more  about 
them. 

THE    ACOLITIONISTS. 

The  abolitionists  who  met  at  the  Melodeon  have  got 
thi'ough,  and  adjourned.  I  dropped  in  again  on  Friday,  and 
heard  an  English  gentleman,  named  Lowe,  a  few  minutes. 
In  the  course  of  his  remarks,  he  came  down  upon  Meagher, 
the  Irish  orator,  for  what  I  could  not  very  well  understand. 
He  classed  him  with  Kossuth  and  Father  Mathew,  each 
having  3'ielded  to  the  influence  of  slaver}-. 

Garrison,  the  sturd}*,  persistent  follower  of  his  glorious 
idea;  Phillips,  the  eloquent  orator,  who  might  be  —  oh! 
such  a  splendid  politician !  Pillsburj',  the  indefatigable 
traveller  and  worker,  the  every-daj'  sort  of  a  man,  who  has 
the  most  forcible  way  of  talking  of  any  in  the  whole  lot,  to 
my  liking  ;  Parker,  who  likes  to  go  and  make  speeches,  but 
has  too  much  common  sense  to  follow  all  the  vagaries  of  the 
others ;  .  .  .  and  Burleigh,  who  can  prove  by  impregnable 
logic  that  two  and  two  are  not  four,  —  all  these  people  meet 
together  year  after  3ear. 

I  admire  to  hear  them,  and  have  no  doubt  whatever  that 
the}'  have  done  more  than  an}'  other  equal  number  of  men  to- 
Avards  hastening  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  don't  accede  to 
their  claim  that  they  have  done  all.,  or  that  nobody  else  can 
do  any  thing. 


200  "WARRINGTON: " 

THE   BOSTON   DAILY   ADVERTISER   IN   1853. 

"  The  Dail}^  Advertiser  "  ^  has  published  five  or  six  columns 
of  words  urging  the  legislature  to  repeal  the  Convention's 
(Constitutional)  law.  Perhaps  you  will  ask  why,  in  a  letter 
from  the  State  House,  I  allude  to  these  "repeal"  articles. 
Because,  I  answer,  everj-  member  from  the  legislature  was 
furnished  with  a  cop}-  of  "The  Daily  Advertiser  "  containing 
them  ;  and  the  subject  properly  comes  under  my  notice.  I 
saw  the  pile  of  "  Advertisers,"  wet,  sogg}',  dull.  I  saw  rash 
representatives,  impelled  by  Yankee  instinct  for  newspapers, 
yet  not  knowing  what  they  did,  seize  upon  them,  and  thrust 
them  into  their  pockets.  I  saw  others  in  the  House  under- 
taking to  read  the  repeal  articles.  I  watched  the  struggle 
going  on  in  the  mind  of  each  reader,  as  shown  in  his  puzzled, 
or  amazed,  or  amused  countenance.  I  saw  the  gleam  of 
intelligence  which  lighted  up  the  face  of  one  good  man,  who, 
about  half  wa}'  down  the  second  column,  fancied  that  he  had 
discovered  something  which  he  could  understand,  if  allowed 
time  to  investigate  it ;  and,  again,  I  saw  others  giving  up 
the  contest  in  despair,  and  asking  what  kind  of  a  paper  it 
was,  and  what  the  editor  was  driving  at. 

It  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  journalism.  Why  is  it  called 
a  daily,  I  wonder.  "We  are  apt  to  think  of  a  daily  thing  as 
of  something  new  and  fresh,  —  a  birth  or  bursting-forth,  an 
effulgence,  a  gayety.  Is  "The  Daily  Advertiser"  new  or 
fresh?  Nay,  but  very  old  and  \qvj  stale.  Is  it  a  birth? 
Nay,  unless  it  is  in  the  sense  of  "Wordsworth's  line,  — 

"Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting." 

Is  it  a  bursting-forth ?  Nay,  but  a  bursting-up,  rather.  Is 
it  an  effulgence?  Nay,  but  a  fog.  Is  it  a  gayety?  Nay, 
but  a  ver}^  specific  gravity. 

1  The  Advertiser,  in  18o3,  and  long  after,  was  bunkerisli  and  bit- 
terly proslavery,  and,  of  course,  opposed  to  all  reforms  in  which  Mr. 
Robinson  was  interested.  "When  he  could  not  convince,  he  ridiculed, 
his  opponents. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  201 

[Lowell  American,  March  10,  1853.] 
LETTER  TO   THE   WHIGS    (cOALITIOn)  . 

Brethren,  I  would  not  aggravate  yonx  condition:  I  would 
fain  bring  out  of  it  profit  to  3'ourselves  ;  and,  to  do  this,  I 
must  not  merel}-  remind  ^^ou  of  ^'our  defeats,  and  the  appar- 
ent and  immediate  cause,  which  is  j'our  lack  of  votes,  but 
also  the  remote  cause,  which  is  the  lack  of  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  people.  And  even  this  information  will 
be  of  little  practical  use  to  j'ou,  unless  ^^ou  take  measures  to 
get  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  future. 

To  recur  to  Sancho  Panza :  "The  reason,  Sancho,"  said 
his  master,  "  why  thou  feelest  that  pain  all  down  thy  back  is, 
that  the  stick  which  gave  it  thee  was  of  a  length  to  that  ex- 
tent."—  "God's  my  life!  "  exclaimed  Sancho  impatiently: 
"as  if  I  could  not  guess  that  of  my  own  head  !  The  question 
is,  however.  How  am  I  to  get  rid  of  it?  " 

There  is  no  wa}-,  O  Sancho  Whiggcrj-,  to  get  rid  of  the 
pain  inflicted  by  this  enormous  coalition  stick ;  but  there 
is  a  way  to  avoid  such  another  infliction.  Behave  jourself 
properl}'.  Discard  bad  leaders,  and  refuse  bad  advice.  Put 
not  3'ourself  in  the  wa}'  of  the  people  ;  denj^  not  to  them  the 
right  of  sovereignty.  Claim  not  for  your  awkward  squad  in 
the  State  House  a  power  greater  than  the  sixtj'-six  thousand 
people  who  voted  for  the  Convention.  Repeal  not  laws  which 
the  people  ask  to  have  retained.  Use  not  mob-law.  Abolish 
not  the  rules  and  orders.  Legislate  soberlj'  and  discreetly. 
Set  not  3'our  faces  against  ever}*  thing  that  has  an  unwonted 
appearance.  Be  modern  men,  and  not  antique  fossils.  And 
with  this  advice  I  leave  you. 

[Lowell  American,  June  23,  1853.] 
THE   CONSOLATION   OF   ASSES. 

It  is  said  to  be  the  onl}'  consolation  of  a  mule,  that  his 
father  was  a  horse.  Now,  although  it  is  quite  a  waste  of 
ammunition  to  allude  again  to  the  last  communication  of 
"  C."   in  "The  Lowell  Courier,"  one  expression  of  his  is 


202  ''WARRINGTON:" 

worth}^  of  notice,  showing  as  it  does  his  close  resemblance 
to  that  long-eared  species  of  animal.  Says  "C,"  "The 
Free-Soil  party  has  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  name  in  the 
records  of  the  remote  past;"  intimating  thereby  that  it  is 
lessened  in  importance,  and  cannot  stand  up  by  the  side  of 
the  old  Whig  part}',  which  may  have  existed  ever  since  the 
days  of — the  3'ear  A.D.  1828. 

There  is  an  excellent  reply  to  this  remark  of  "  C."  to  be 
found  in  the  history  of  ancient  Greece.  Iphicrates,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  Athenian  generals,  was  the  son  of  a  shoe- 
maker. Being  engaged  in  a  cause  before  the  judges,  he  was 
taunted  of  his  mean  extraction  by  his  opponent,  who  boasted 
of  being  a  descendant  of  Harmodius.  "  Yes,"  replied  the 
noble  soldier  with  cutting  sarcasm,  the  "nobility  of  my 
family  begins  in  me  :  that  of  3'ours  ends  in  you." 

"  C."  may  find,  that,  although  the  Free-Soil  party  has  no 
name  in  the  records  of  the  remote  past,  the  Whig  part}'  will 
be  wanting  of  a  being  in  the  remote  future.  The  power  of 
the  former  begins  with  the  present ;  and  with  the  present  ends 
the  power  of  tlie  latter.  It  is  too  late  an  age  to  find  honor 
in  being  of  that  class  whose  chief  excellence,  like  the  po- 
tato, lies  beneath  the  sod. 

[Lowell  American,  Aug.  16,  1853.] 

THE    CON-STI-TU-TION   EX-PLAIN-ED    FOR   LIT-TLE   C.  C.^ 

For  Be-rjin-ners. 

Now,  lit-tle  bo}',  let  us  tell  3-ou  some-thing  which  you  do 

not  know,  be-cause  you  are  a  ver}-  sil-ly  lit-tle  boy.     If  the 

Con-sti-tu-tion  is  a-dopt-ed  by  the  peo-ple,  it  will  make  no 

dif-fer-ence  as  to  the  s^'s-tem  of  rep-re-sen-ta-tion,  wheth-er 

the  pret-t}'  Whigs  or  the  naugh-ty  Free-Soil-ers  and  Lo-co- 

fo-cos  get  the  le-gis-la-ture.     The  peo-ple  can  say  wheth-er 

they  will  have  the  Con-sti-tu-tion,  or  not ;   and  if  the}-  say 

they  will  have  it,  then  the  town  sys-tem  will  go  in-to  ef-fect, 

no  mat-ter  if  the  Whigs  should  not  like  it,  or  if  the}-  should 

get  the  ma-jor-i-ty  in  the  le-gis-la-ture. 

1  One  of  tlie  editors  of  a  Whig  paper  in  Lowell. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  203 

And  in  the  j'ear  eigh-teen  hun-dred  and  fiftj'-six,  A^•lliell  is 
three  j'ears  af-ter  this  year  (and  ^'ou  can  count  the  mouths 
on  j-our  bless-ed  lit-tle  fin-gers  and  dar-ling  lit-tle  toes),  the 
le-gis-la-tiire  will  have  to  dis-trict  the  State,  just  as  the 
pret-ty  Whigs  wish ;  and  this  Avill  hap-pen  just  the  same 
un-der  a  Lo-co-fo-co  Free-Soil  le-gis-la-ture  as  it  will  un- 
der a  Whig  le-gis-la-ture.  For  let  us  tell  3-ou,  lit-tle  Char- 
ley C,  that  the  town  and  the  dis-trict  S3-s-tem  in  the  new 
Con-sti-tu-tion  are  both  so  join-ed  to-geth-er,  that  e-ven  if 
3'ou  were  a  great  man,  and  al-low-ed  to  vote  (and  we  hope 
you  will  grow  up  and  be  large  e-nough  be-fore  an-oth-er  Con- 
sti-tu-tion  is  made) ,  you  would  have  to  vote  ei-ther  for  botli  or 
a-gainst  both  ;  for  the  wick-ed  Free-Soil-ers  and  Lo-co-fo-cos 
have  fix-ed  it  so  that  you  can-not  do  oth-er-wise. 

Now,  lit-tle  Char-le}',  if  you  will  stud-}'  hard  all  the  week, 
and  tr}'  to  un-der-stand  this,  and  ask  your  mam-ma  to  spell 
the  long  words  for  j-ou,  and  your  broth-er  to  point  out  the 
mean-ing  of  the  hard  words,  then  j-ou  can  come  a-gain,  and 
we  will  tell  3-ou  how  it  is  that  a  man  can  sup-port  the  new 
Con-sti-tu-tion  with-out  aid-ing  the  e-lec-tion  of  a  co-a-li-tion 
le-gis-la-ture ;  and,  when  3'ou  have  got-ten  this  les-son 
per-fect,  you  shall  have  a  nice  piece  of  plum-cake,  and  the 
big  bo3s  will  not  an3'  lon-ger  laugh  at  30U  for  be-ing  a  sil-13', 
ig-no-rant  lit-tle  bo3'. 


[From  the  Evening  Post,  1853.] 
DEFEAT    OF    THE    NEW    CONSTITUTION. 

One  of  m3'  good  friends  requests  me  to  "  write  something 
funny ' '  to  cheer  up  the  spirits  of  the  prostrate  coalitionists 
and  constitutional  reformers  of  this  region  under  the  over- 
whelming defeat  which  the}-  met  with  yesterda3\  I  will  be 
"  as  funn3'  as  I  can  ;  "  but  ghastliness  forms  a  considerable 
ingredient  in  our  smiling,  and  l)itterness  in  our  wit,  just  now. 
I  had  prepared  some  ver3'  facetious  remarks  in  partial  anti- 
cipation of  a  different  result.  In  connection  with  that  result, 
these  would  make  you  and  all  men  laugh  ;  but ''  much  remains 


204  "WABRINGTON:" 

unsung,"  and  must  so  remain.  Abbott  Lawrence  going 
about  the  State  drenching  his  poclcet-handkerchief  with 
tears  at  the  bare  idea  of  being  disfranchised  was  a  subject 
for  mirth,  to  be  sure ;  but  Abbott  Lawrence  dragging  his 
wallet  and  contents  out  to  "feed"  fortj^-one  perambulating 
Whig  orators  formed  quite  another  picture.  To  hear  John  G. 
Palfrc}'  and  Charles  F.  Adams  hounding  down  a  Constitution 
thej'  must  have  known  was  infinitely'  preferable  to  the  old 
one  was  calculated  to  bring  a  satirical  smile  upon  the  faces 
of  those  who  knew  that  their  real  object  was  to  revenge 
themselves  upon  Henr}-  Wilson ;  but  the  spectacle  of  hun- 
dreds of  honest  men  gulled  by  their  sophistry  was  not 
agreeable  in  any  sense  of  the  word.  The  man  who  has  his 
doubts  about  the  intelligence  of  the  masses  —  the  laboring- 
classes —  might  be  excused,  if  he  inwardly  chuckled  over  the 
sight  of  "The  Boston  Pilot"  trj'ing  to  lead  Irishmen  into 
the  jaws  of  a  Boston  aristocracy  as  remorseless  as  the  one 
they  had  left  Ireland  to  get  rid  of ;  but  the  success  of  this 
eflfort,  as  manifest  in  the  vote  of  Boston,  Lowell,  Charles- 
town,  and  other  places,  must  have  deprived  the  cynic  of  even 
the  poor  satisfaction  of  a  sneer. 

It  would  take  a  dozen  letters  to  give  3'ou  an  account  of  all 
the  causes  of  this  disaster.  I  shall  merely  enumerate  them ; 
and  here  thej'  are  :  — 

1.  The  city  of  Boston.  2.  Abbott  Lawrence's  wallet. 
3.  The  Roman-Catholic  vote.  4.  The  entire  party  oppo- 
sition of  the  Whigs.  5.  The  rum  vote.  6.  The  hunker 
"Post"  influence.  7.  The  temperance  vote.  8.  The 
treachery  of  the  Free-Soil  leaders.  9.  Caleb  Cushing's  inter- 
ference. 10.  The  cr3',  "  Free-Soil  Constitution."  11.  The 
cry,  "Wilson  is  to  be  Governor."  12.  The  conservatism 
of  the  people.  13.  The  blunders  of  the  Convention.  14. 
The  indifference  of  the  voters.  15.  The  opposition  of  Har- 
vard College  and  the  Unitarians.  16.  The  opposition  of 
Andover  and  the  Orthodox.  17.  The  opposition  of  "The 
Pilot"  and  the  Catholics.  18.  The  opposition  of  "  The 
Investigator"  and  the  infidels.     19.  The  opposition  of  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  205 

old-fogy  "Whigs.  20.  The  opposition  of  the  liberal  "Whigs. 
21.  Hatred  of  niggers  and  Free-Soilers.  22.  The  opposi- 
tion of  the  large  cities.  23.  The  opposition  of  the  small 
towns. 

Abbott  Lawrence,  the  millionnaire,  and  ragged  Simon,  the 
town  pauper  ;  Father  Brownson,  the  Catholic,  and  Xehe- 
miah  Twang,  the  Puritan ;  John  G.  Palfre}-,  the  representa- 
tive of  Harvard  College,  and  Peleg  Jenkins,  who  is  opposed 
to  common  schools,  and  thinks  Jackson  is  still  President ; 
the  Hon.  Alonzo  Stiff  from  Beacon  Street,  and  Sam  the 
bull}'  from  the  Black  Sea  ;  Narcissus  Yardstick,  the  counter- 
jumper,  and  Jonathan  Ilarrowtooth,  the  farmer  in  the  back 
settlements  ;  Charles  F.  Adams,  the  abolitionist,  and  Caleb 
Cushing,  the  crusher  of  abolitionists  ;  George  S.  Ilillard, 
with  his  cologne  bottle,  and  Moses  Mudlark,  skipper  of  the 
scow  "  Betsej' ;  "  Hudson,  who  fastens  all  his  audience  to 
their  seats  (asleep),  and  Lord,  who  drives  them  all  away 
(disgusted)  ;  Standstill,  the  conservative,  and  "Venture,  the 
radical ;  Blilil  and  Black  George  ;  tag,  rag,  and  bol)tail,  — 

"  Some  in  rags, 
Some  in  tags, 
And  some  in  velvet  gowns,"  — 

all  united  to  vote  down  the  new  Constitution. 

The  result  appears  to  be  this,  — that  the  coalition  is  cora- 
pleteh-  dead ;  the  secret  ballot  law  and  ten-hour  law  are 
prostrate,  the  Free-Soil  party  disheartened,  and  the  Demo- 
cratic part}'  good  for  nothing  ;  constitutional  reform  will  not 
be  heard  of  again  for  man}-  years  ;  the  fogies  will  frown 
down  all  attempts  at  agitation,  whether  by  Democrats  or 
liberal  "Whigs  ;  the  "Whig  party  remains  in  the  complete 
control  of  Boston,  and  the  money-bags  of  Boston  rule  the 
State. 


206  "WAHRmOTON:' 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WOEKIKGS  OF  THE  FUGITIVE-SLAVE  ACT  DT   MASSA- 
CHUSETTS. 

[Boston  Daily  Common-wealth,  June  3,  1854.] 
RENDITION   OF   ANTONY  BURNS. 

Antony  Burns  was  taken  "Wednesday  night,  May  24, 1854, 
in  Court  Square,  between  six  and  seven  o'clock,  and  kept  in 
durance  all  night  in  the  Court  House.  The  next  morning, 
about  nine  o'clock,  he  was  brought  before  Commissioner 
Edward  G.  Loring  for  examination.  S.  D.  Parker,  Esq., 
appears  in  behalf  of  .the  man-hunters,  and  used  documents 
purporting  to  be  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  County  of 
Alexandria  in  Virginia,  which  set  forth  that  Charles  Suttle 
of  Alexandria,  in  that  State,  is  the  owner  of  Antony  Burns. 
It  was  alleged,  in  substance,  that  the  man  under  arrest  is  this 
Burns  ;  that  he  ran  away  from  his  owner  ;  and  that  the  hunt- 
ers mean  to  take  this  man  back  to  Virginia,  there  to  be  held 
and  treated  as  a  chattel. 

In  the  name  of  outraged  liberty,  we  thank  the  men,  who, 
in  Faneuil  Hall  last  Friday  night,  gave  expression  to  their 
feelings  on  the  subject  of  the  slave-hunt.  We  honor  the 
feelings  which  led  to  the  ill-timed  attempt  to  rescue  Burns. 
We  call  no  man  a  criminal  who  spoke  in  the  hall,  or  who 
assailed  the  Court  House. ^    Not  until  we  can  condemn  the 

1  On  the  night  of  this  assault  there  was  a  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
called  to  order  by  Samuel  E.  Sewall,  presided  over  by  George  R.  Eus- 
sell,  and- addressed  by  Wendell  Phillips,  Theodore  Parker,  and  John  L. 
Swift.  I  quote  from  p.  35  of  a  book  called  "Antony  Burns;  a  Story:" 
"John  L.  Swift,  a  young  lawyer  of  fervid  oratory,  next  addressed  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  207 

men  who  threw  the  tea  into  Boston  Harbor,  or  who  mobbed 
the  Austrian  Haynau,  or  who  drove  "Ward  the  murderer  out 
of  Louisville,  can  we  condemn  as  criminals  the  men  who 
have  been  visited  with  the  denunciations  of  the  proslavery 
press,  and  who  are  now  under  arrest,  or  in  danger  of  arrest ; 
and,  when  we  consider  who  are  the  men  who  reprove  these 
for  violent  language  and  action,  we  are  still  less  disposed 
to  join  with  them. 

Who  is  Suttle?  A  Virginian  slaveholder,  who  has  never 
known  any  other  law  than  the  lynch-law,  by  which  his  system 
lives.  Who  is  B.  F.  Ilallett,  his  legal  adviser?  A  man 
who  has  got  his  living  ever  since  we  ever  heard  of  him  by 
defending  law-breakers  ;  a  man  whom  we  once  heard  compare 
the  keeper  of  a  tippling-shop  to  the  Revolutionary  heroes  of 
1776,  because  the  man  had  violated  the  fifteen-gallon  law. 
Who  composed  the  guard  of  poor  Burns  as  he  passed  down 
State  Street?  A  gang  of  the  most  audacious,  law-breaking 
ruffians  to  be  found  in  the  whole  cit}'. 

The  deed  of  shame  has  been  done.  Boston  is  again  dis- 
graced.    Massachusetts  is  prostrate  to-day  at  the  feet  of  the 

assembly.  'Burns,'  said  lie,  'is  in  tho  Court  House.  Is  there  any  law 
to  keep  him  there  V  If  we  allow  ISIarslial  Freeman  to  carry  away  that 
man,  then  the  word  "  cowards"  should  bo  stamped  upon  our  foreheads. 
AVhen  we  go  from  this  cradle  of  Liberty,  let  us  go  to  tlie  tomb  of  Liberty, 
the  Court  House.  To-morrow  Burns  will  have  remained  incarcerated 
more  than  three  days,  and  I  hope  to-morrow  to  witness  in  his  release 
the  resurrection  of  Liberty.'  I'hillips  and  Parker  spoke  afterwards ; 
Phillips  a  second  time,  for  the  purpose  of  restraining  the  crowd,  wlio 
were  greatly  excited  by  Parker's  words  and  by  the  turbulent  spirit  of 
the  night.  The  great  orator  had  got  his  audience  well  in  hand,  when 
suddenly  a  man  at  the  entrance  of  the  hall  shouted,  'Mr.  Chairman,  I 
am  just  informed  that  a  mob  of  negroes  is  in  Court  Square  attempting  to 
rescue  Burns.  I  move  that  we  adjourn  to  Court  Square.'  A  formal  vote 
was  not  waited  for;  and  the  next  instant  the  whole  mass  was  pouring 
do^^^l  the  broad  stairs,  and  along  the  streets  towards  tho  new  theatre 
of  action."  I  take  pleasure  in  making  this  contribution  to  the  history 
of  a  most  picturesque  event  in  tho  antislavery  annals,  —  one  of  the 
landmarks  in  the  war  of  resistance  to  slave-driving  tyranny,  which 
finally  became  a  war  of  aggression  and  extermination  against  slave- 
drivers  themselves.  Swift's  part  in  it  only  makes  more  conspicuous 
his  after-defection.  — W.  S.  R.  in  18G6. 


208  ''WARRINGTON:" 

slaveholders ;  yes,  at  the  feet  of  one  slaveholder.  The 
infamy  of  yesterday  will  leave  a  stain  upon  her  history  for- 
ever. Dear  as  are  the  memories  of  Bunker  Hill  and  Faneuil 
Hall  and  Liberty  Tree,  honorable  and  cherished  as  are  the 
lives  of  Otis,  Qnincj',  and  the  Adamses,  let  no  man  boast  of 
them  now.  TVe  are  but  serfs,  pliant,  supple  menials  of  the 
slaveholders,  the  "niggers"  of  the  Union.  Slavery  says 
to  Massachusetts  and  Boston,  "  I  command  j'ou  to  catch  my 
negro  slave,  and  return  him  to  me  ;  "  and  Boston  obej's  her. 
Our  governor,  our  mayor,  and  militar}^  force,  j'ield  to  the 
demand.  All  business  is  suspended  for  a  week,  that  we  may 
obey  the  bloody  behest.  Our  courts  are  interrupted,  our 
anniversaries  are  forsaken,  our  trade  suffers  to  a  vast 
amount,  our  laws  are  prostrate,  —  all  that  Col.  Charles  Suttle 
may  have  his  twelve  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  negro  flesh. 
"We  say  our  laws  are  prostrate.  This  is  literallj^  true.  For 
eight  days  there  was  no  law  of  Massachusetts  which  could 
be  enforced  in  Boston,  if  it  conflicted  in  any  degree  with  the 
property -claim  of  Col.  Suttle.  A  claim  worth  twelve  hun- 
dred dollars  at  the  utmost,  an  issue  no  greater  than  many 
which  are  tried  daily  in  our  courts,  and  not  of  half  so  much 
consequence  (to  the  claimant,  we  mean)  as  cases  which  occur 
ever}'  month  or  week,  was  of  so  sacred  a  nature,  that  the 
laws  of  a  sovereign  State  all  had  to  give  way  to  it. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts  are  deepl}^  moved  by  the 
results  of  the  past  week.  This  feeling  exhibits  itself  first  in 
the  usual  methods.  The  slave-hunter.  Commissioner  Loring, 
has  been  symbolically  hanged,  burned,  and  buried  in  various 
places.  With  a  slight  disregard  of  the  "  fitness  of  things," 
in  other  places,  Hallett,  who  is  worthy  only  of  tar,  and 
Thomas,^  and  Parker,  who  would  be  sufficiently  honored  b}^  a 
kick^  have  been  also  suspended  in  effigy.  The  women  of 
Woburn  have  transmitted  to  Loring  thh-ty  pieces  of  silver, 
of  the  smallest  known  denomination,  indicating  to  him  by 
this  act  the  views  which  they  hold  of  the  enormity  of  his 

1  Seth  J.  Thomas,  counsel  for  slaveholders. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  209 

conduct  in  sending  to  a  slavery  worse  than  death  an  inno- 
cent man.  We  must  be  allowed,  while  admitting  the  appro- 
priateness of  this  gift,  to  protest  against  its  being  followed 
to  any  great  extent.  We  object  even  to  the  addition  of 
ninety  cents  to  the  legal  fee  of  ten  dollars  which  Loring  has 
received  for  his  inhuman  job.  These  demonstrations  of  feel- 
ing are  honorable  to  the  people.  There  is  a  sense  of  burning 
indignation  at  the  disgrace  into  which  Massachusetts  has 
fallen  in  these  da3-s,  —  fallen  so  low  as  to  be  the  jeer  and 
laughing-stock  of  Virginian  slave-drivers.  Better  than  this, 
there  is  a  stern  feeling,  that,  if  we  do  not  before  long  resist, 
there  will  be  no  liberty  left  for  any  man  among  us  ;  a  knowl- 
edge forced  upon  men  by  the  events  here  and  at  Washington 
within  three  months,  that  now  must  the  trial  come  between 
slavery  and  freedom  ;  that  the  great  enem}''  of  our  peace  has 
obtained  an  advantage  b}^  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  Bill, 
which,  if  followed  up,  will  place  the  whole  nation  in  absolute 
submission  to  its  will,  and  leave  no  alternative  but  serfdom^ 
or  separation. 

One  word  must,  however,  now  be  said.  Edward  G.  Lor- 
ing is  the  chief  culprit.  Not  a  single  man  who  has  been 
engaged  in  the  business  of  seizing  negroes,  from  Grier  to 
Ingraham,  from  Kane  to  Curtis,  has  behaved  worse  than 
Loring.  With  a  question  of  identity,  on  which  the  evidence 
was  conflicting,  he  has  allowed  Burns  to  be  returned  to  the 
untold  and  half-imagined  woes  of  slavery  upon  evidence 
wrenched  from  him  (if  obtained  at  all)  by  his  tyrannical 
claimant. 

This  decision,  while  it  illustrates  that  complete  negation  of 
all  law  which  is  the  characteristic  and  animating  principle 
of  the  Fugitive-slave  Bill,  also  illustrates,  in  an  unmistaka- 
ble manner,  the  character  of  Edward  G.  Loring.  lie  needs 
not  to  be  called  names,  if  names  bad  enough  could  be  found 
for  him.  He  ought  to  be  forever  held  infamous  by  the  people 
of  Boston  and  of  Massachusetts.  He  ought  to  be  driven 
out  from  the  community  he  has  disgraced,  as  Matt  Ward  is 
driven  out  of  Louisville.      Let  him  be  a  marked  man  for- 


210  "WARRINGTON:"  t 

ever.  Let  Harvard  College  be  required  to  repudiate  his 
teachings,  and  the  legislature  compelled  to  fill  his  judicial 
station  with  another  and  better  man.  Let  the  public  senti- 
ment which  he  has  outraged  follow  him.  Let  it  concentrate 
itself  upon  him. 


[Boston  Daily  Telegraph,  May  24.] 

ONE   THING   TO    BE    DONE.^ 

[Jtulge  Loring.'] 

Massachusetts  and  Boston  must  no  longer  be  disgraced  by 

a  slave-catching,  ten-dollar   commissioner   acting  as  judge 

of  probate.     The  process  of  removal  is  not  with  the  gov- 

1  This  was  the  first  article  written  in  favor  of  Loriug's  removal,  and 
the  beginning  of  the  movement  which  resulted,  four  years  after,  in  his 
removal.    I  sent  this  article  to  the  Evening  Telegraph. 

[For  the  Telegraph.] 

April  17, 1855. 

Messes.  Editors,  —  I  observe  that  BIr.  Huntington  of  Northampton  is  reported 
as  saying  in  Uie  House,  that  "Theodore  Parker  was,  at  an  excited  meeting,  at  the 
bottom  of  all  this  movement "  for  the  removal  of  Judge  Loring.  The  first  petition 
for  the  removal  of  Judge  Loring  was  written  by  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, and  was  printed  in  the  afternoon  ediEion  of  that  paper,  on  the  day 
Judge  Loring  sent  Burns  into  slavery;  and,  within  an  hour  of  the  time,  Burns  was 
carried  down  State  Street.  A  copy  of  the  petition  was  also  placed  in  the  counting- 
room  of  the  paper,  and  received  a  number  of  signatures.  Without  wishing  to 
detract  from  the  merit  of  Mr.  Parker  in  the  matter,  I  think  it  is  proper  that  tliis 
fact  should  be  known.  R- 

I  also  wrote  the  first  articles  after  the  legislature  met,  in  favor  of 
Loring's  removal;  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  determined 
the  question  in  the  House.  Before  I  wrote  them,  I  conversed  with 
several  antislavery  members,  who  were  themselves  doubtful  as  to  tlie 
"expediency,"  and  who  thought  the  movement  would  fail  if  it  was 
tried.  Mr.  E.  H.  Dana  said  to  Carter,  "This  is  all  the  Telegraph's 
work."  The  resolution  to  remove  Loring  passed  the  House  on  the 
14th  by  ninetj--five  majority. 

Robert  Carter  wrote  some  excellent  articles  on  the  subject.  Seth 
"Webb,  jun.,  wrote  one.  These,  with  my  own,  appeared,  and  did  the 
work,  before  the  proprietors  got  frightened,  and  prohibited  in  some 
degree,  though  not  entirely,  the  advocacy  of  the  measure. 

Probably  John  L.  Swift,  C.  W.  Slack,  and  others  who  spoke  in  the 
House,  think  that  they  exercised  a  powerful  influence  upon  the  result; 
but  men's  minds  were  made  up  by  aid  of  the  Telegraph  long  before 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  211 

ernor,  but  with  the  legislature.  It  may  be  done  b}-  address' 
of  the  two  branches,  or  by  impeachment.  The  first  is  the 
practical  method.  We  have  hastily  prepared  the  following 
form  of  petition.  This,  or  something  lil^e  it,  must  be  signed 
by  all  the  people,  and  sent  to  the  next  legislature  ;  and  men 
must  be  chosen  to  that  body  who  will  act  up  to  its  request :  — 

To  the  Legislature  of  IfassacJmsetts, — 

The  undersigned,  citizens   of   Massachusetts,  request  of 
your  honorable   body  to  forthwith   take    measures   for    the 

REMOVAL    OF    EdWAKD    GrEELEY    LoRING     FROM    THE     OFFICE 

OF  Judge  of  Probate  for  Suffolk  County. 


[Boston  Daily  Telegraph,  May  2.] 
SOUTHERN    LITERATURE. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Nehemiah  Adams  went  to  the  South,  and 
saw  that  the  slaves  were  exceedingly  well  dressed,  especially 
on  Sunda}-.  They  wore  "  broadcloth  su^ts,  well-fitting  and 
nicel}'  ironed  fine  shirts,  polished  boots,  gloves,  umbrellas 
for  sun-shades,  the  best  of  hats,  their  3'oung  men  with  their 
blue  coats  and  bright  buttons  in  the  latest  style,  white  Mar- 
seilles vests,  white  pantaloons,  with  brooches  in  their  shirt- 

a  speech  •was  made.  At  this  time,  two  Imntlred  and  twenty-two  copies 
of  the  Daily  Telegraph  were  taken  hy  the  members.  —  W.  S.  H.  in 
Dian/  of  ISjS. 

The  honor  of  having  sug,:iested  the  removal  of  Jndge  Loring  f rom 
the  I'robate  Conrt  is  likely  to  he  contended  for;  and  therefore,  with 
yonr  permission,  I  beg  leave  to  embalm  the  facts  in  the  cohimns  of 
the  Evening  Post.  On  the  day  that  Jlr.  IJurns  was  removed,  jNIr. 
"W.  S.  I^obinson,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Bcjston  Commonwealth 
newspaper,  drew  np  the  first  petition  that  ever  existed  for  the  judge's 
removal,  and  published  it  in  tliat  day's  paper,  in  less  than  an  hour 
after  the  fngitive  had  been  carried  down  to  the  slaver  in  which  he  was 
transported  back  to  Virginia.  The  same  gentleman  placed  a  copy  of 
the  petition  in  tlie  counting-room  of  the  paper,  and  it  was  signed  on 
that  day  by  several  persons.  Mr.  Robinson  ought  to  have  the  credit 
which  attaches  to  the  opening  of  the  proceeding,  which  has  all  along, 
and  through  its  various  stages,  been  opposed  by  those  who  form  the 
aristocratical  branch  of  the  Frce-Soilers.  —  C.  C.  Hazewell's  Letter  to 
New  -  Yoi-k  Eveninrj  Post. 


212  "WARRINGTON:" 

bosoms,  gold  chains,  elegant  sticks,  and  some  old  men 
leaning  on  their  ivory  and  silver-headed  staffs."  He  saw 
one  man,  a  member  of  a  band  of  musicians,  who  had  even 
attained  to  the  dignity  of  periscopic  glasses.  Some  of  the 
young  women  wore  turbans,  and  walked  with  a  rhetorical 
lifting  of  the  arm  and  leg.  On  the  whole,  the  reverend 
doctor  found  the  slaves  a  remarkably  happy  people.  He 
asked  one  of  them  if  he  wanted  to  be  free  ;  and  he  replied, 
that  he  only  wanted  to  be  free  in  the  Lord ;  and  the  doctor 
believed  him.  It  is  not  for  us  to  discredit  his  statements  : 
onty  we  are  puzzled  to  account  for  certain  advertisements 
which  we  find  in  the  Southern  newspapers.  They  are  easy 
to  be  found,  —  these  advertisements  to  which  we  allude.  The 
portrait  of  a  fugacious  person,  with  a  pack  upon  his  back, 
shows  at  a  glance  what  is  the  subject  of  the  notice.  "We 
have  several  of  these  advertisements  now  before  us.  How 
to  account  for  their  appearance  —  that  is  the  question.  If 
the  slaves  are  happy,  why  do  they  run  away  from  happiness  ? 
Are  they  surfeited* with  delights?  and  do  they  run  off  on  that 
account?  Do  broadcloth  suits,  including  Marseilles  vests, 
eventually  pall  upon  the  appetite  of  the  fashionable  colored 
man,  brooches  grow  nauseating  to  his  simple  taste,  and 
even  periscopic  glasses  become  unsatisfactory  ? 

Passing  over  the  large  rewards  offered  for  Mike,  a  black, 
heavy  set  fellow,  the  end  of  one  of  whose  thumbs  is  bit  off, 
a  bricklayer  by  trade  ;  for  Andrew,  a  man  of  "  rather  light 
complexion  ;  "  and  for  Charles,  who  is  very  black,  and  has  a 
limp  in  his  left  leg,  which  we  trust  left  him  when  he  got  on 
the  high  road  towards  the  north  star,  —  we  come  to  the 
following  "  rare  chance  :  "  — 

"  A  family  of  negroes,  consisting  of  a  woman  forty  years  of  age, 
a  splendid  cook,  washer  and  ironer,  and  her  three  children;  viz.,  a 
dark  mtilatto  girl  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  a  most  excellent  nurse, 
and  good  seamstress,  and  accustomed  to  all  kinds  of  housework;  also 
a  girl  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  a  good  house-servant ;  also  a  boy 
about  eleven  years  of  age.  The  above  family  of  negroes  will  be  fully 
guaranteed.  They  are  slaves  of  excellent  character,  and  are  sold 
only  from  necessity.  A  bargain  will  be  given  to  any  person  who  will 
buy  the  family  together. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  213 

"Also  a  very  likely  mulatto  man,  about  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
a  first-rate  dining-room  and  general  house  servant,  fully  acclimated. 
Such  servants  are  seldom  offered  for  sale. 

''Apply  to  "H.T.Greenwood, 

"47  Caroudelet  Street." 

Mr.  Greenwood,  joxx  are  mistaken.  Such  servants  are 
often  offered  for  sale,  if  we  may  believe  the  advertisements 
in  the  Southern  papers.  So^d  only  from  necessitj',  indeed  ! 
Whose  necessity  ?  Who  is  this  great  lubberly  Greenwood  ? 
and  b3'  what  title  does  he  relieve  his  embarrassments  in  this 
wa}'?  Who  gave  him  the.  right  to  dispose  of  this  splendid 
cook,  washer  and  ironer,  this  excellent  nurse  and  good 
seamstress,  this  good  house-servant,  and  this  young  lad? 
Will  Greenwood's  neighbors  give  him  any  such  recommen- 
dation as  he  gives  this  family  he  is  going  to  sell  ?  Is  he  a 
"splendid"  or  "  excellent"  any  thing?  Is  he  not  a  thief, 
who,  after  stealing  the  labor  of  this  family  for  years,  now 
sells  them  to  pay  his  debts  withal  ? 


214  "  WAEEINGTON: ' 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  KNOW-JTOTHnfG  AND    STRAIGHT   EEPUBUCAN" 
PARTHSS. 

[""Warrington's"  Letters  in  Springfield  Republican, ^  Jan.  24.] 
THE    KXOW-NOTHING  ^   LEGISLATURE    OF    185G. 

"  Steal,  steal,  steal,"  If  this  does  not  continue  to  be 
the  watchword  of  the  Kuow-Nothing  State  Government,  it 
will  be  no  fault  of  the  leader  of  the  dominant  party  in 
the  House.  Mr.  Devereux  occupied  another  hour  or  two 
to-da}'  in  defending  the  extravagance  of  the  Gardner 
administration.  Mr.  Charles  Hale  opened  the  debate  in  a 
speech  of  an  hour,  excellent  in  matter,  and  at  times  spirited 
and  effective  in  style.  His  examination  of  the  financial 
condition  of  the  State  was  very  able,  and  his  exposure  of 
Mr.  Devereux' s  speech  of  j^esterday  entirely  conclusive  to 
all  impartial  men. 

We  have  got  a  live  slaveholder  in  the  city,  Mr.  Robert 
Toombs^  of  Georgia;  and,  of  course,  the  Boston  aristocracy 
are  in  ecstasies  of  delight.  Mr.  Appleton  has  the  honor  of 
entertaining  the  distinguished  guest. 

We  had  a  specimen  of  "the  chloroform  game"  in  the 
House  to-daj^  upon  a  large  scale.  Mr.  Story  of  Somerville, 
taking  his  stand  in  front  of  the  speaker's  desk,  began  to 

1  Unless  otherwise  designated. 

-  The  Native  American  or  Know-Xothing  party  was  a  secret  organiza- 
tion, and  to  "know  nothing"  was  its  policy  and  password.  It  was 
called  the  "  K.  N — s." 

3  Robert  Toombs  threatened  to  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  under  the 
shadow  of  Bunker  Hill. 


:^ 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  215 

speak  upon  the  Juiy  Bill.  It  was  curious  to  witness  the 
effect.  Wide-awake  people  like  the  reporters,  who  recog- 
nized the  signs  which  precede  the  advent  of  a  tore,  packed 
up  their  papers,  and  took  themselves  off.  The  lobbies  were 
soon  filled  with  members  congratulating  themselves  upon 
their  escape,  and  occasionall}'  looking  at  the  door,  and  trying 
to  penetrate,  if  possible,  the  pall  which  Stor}-  had  spread  in 
a  verj'  few  minutes  over  the  whole  House.  I  have  it  from  one 
who  remained,  and  kept  himself  awake  by  thrusting  a  pin 
into  a  fleshy  part  of  his  bodv,  that,  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  after  Story  had  fairly  got  under  wa}',  the  scene  before 
him  was  a  peculiar  one.  Some  members  had  fallen  forward, 
and  were  asleep  in  the  most  curious  and  awkward  positions, 
having  been  overtaken  without  any  time  for  preparation. 
Others,  who  saw  what  was  coming,  but  had  found  their  legs 
fail  them  when  the}'  tried  to  get  clear,  had  carefully  covered 
their  heads  with  their  bandannas,  and  had  gently  and  grace- 
full}'  subsided.  One  man,  who  said  he  could  stand  any  thing ^ 
having  been  a  steady  reader  of  "  The  Daily  Advertiser"  for 
a  dozen  years,  undertook  to  defy  his  fate,  and  fortified  him- 
self with  the  third  number  of  "  Little  Dorrit."  He  stood  it 
through  the  account  of  the  "circumlocution-office,"  but 
yielded  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  that  chapter.  Dickens 
had  found  his  match  at  last.  One  man  in  the  gallery,  who 
happened  to  yawn  at  a  quarter-past  twelve,  was  paral3zed 
before  he  had  finished  ;  and  his  mouth  remained  open  more 
than  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The  benumbing  influence 
escaped  at  the  doors,  and  penetrated  into  the  senate-chamber. 
Men  in  the  lobbies  were  obliged  to  leave ;  and  the  senate, 
which  had  unflinchingly  withstood  eighteen  speeches  in  one 
day  from  George  W.  "Warren,  precipitatel}'  adjourned.  The 
clerks  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  and  the  treas- 
urer were  obliged  to  suspend  their  work  ;  and  a  chambermaid 
on  Mount  Vernon  Street,  who  had  once  nearly  died  of  the 
fumes  of  charcoal,  roused  the  house  in  great  alarm  at  the 
familiar  smell.  The  sergeant-at-arms  was  implored  to  inter- 
fere, but  he  was  too  far  gone  to  respond  ;  the  speaker  could 


216  ''WARRINGTOW:" 

not  lift  his  gavel :  and  so  Mr.  Story  had  his  audience  com- 
pletely at  his  mercy.  At  last,  about  one  o'clock,  he  3-ielded 
the  floor.  The  enchanted  jaw  closed  ;  one  by  one  the  sleepers 
roused  themselves  ;  Ms.  Lamb  of  Greenfield  seized  the  floor, 
and,  by  his  vigorous  and  energetic  method,  dispelled  the 
charm ;  and  finall}^  things  went  on  about  the  same  as  ever. 
Mr.  Stor}^  still  remains  an  object  of  curiositj'  to  hundreds. 

Of  what  consequence  are  legislative  proceedings?  Isn't 
Banks  elected?  Isn't  the  north  star  in  full  view ?  Are  not 
the  doughfaces  prostrated,  the  Administration  and  its  Ne- 
braska Bill  rebuked,  and  the  Republican  policy  and  principle 
gloriously  sustained  at  Washington  ?  Who  cares  for  legisla- 
tive news  to-day,  or  Coburn  and  Dalton  trials,  or  snowdrifts 
on  all  the  railroads  ? 

[May  23.] 
ASSAULT   ON   CHARLES    SUMNER. 

The  members  of  the  House  were  yesterday  afternoon 
startled  b}'  the  news  that  Senator  Sumner  had  been  assaulted 
and  beaten  by  Brooks  of  South  Carolina.  A  great  deal  of 
feeling  exists  throughout  the  community  in  relation  to  this 
attempt  to  take  the  life  of  our  senator  for  words  spoken  in 
debate.  Yet  the  deed  alreadj^  has  its  apologists.  "  The 
Boston  Post "  despatches  the  subject  in  six  or  seven  lines, 
and  mentions  that  Mr.  Brooks  was  "  irritated ;  "  and  I  pre- 
sume that  the  organs  of  border-ruffianism  throughout  the 
country  will  find  some  similar  excuse.  Murder  has  become 
a  party  question  in  this  country  ;  and  the  party  which  seeks 
and  finds  apologies  for  the  outrages  in  Kansas  —  apologies 
imbecile  as  well  as  apologies  infamous  —  will  not  be  unable 
to  apologize  for  this  last  and  crowning  act  of  ruffianism.  It 
is  difficult  to  speak  of  this  subject  in  any  suitable  terms. 
Let  the  minds  of  all  men  be  directed  to  the  remedy  for  the 
state  of  affairs  which  produces  such  outrages.  Apathy  and 
division  at  present  threaten  to  destroy  Northern  efficiencj^, 
and  so  peqietuate  the  reign  of  misrule  for  an  indefinite 
period.     Perhaps   events    of  this  sort,  which   have   taken 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  217 

place  every  day  in  Kansas,  and  the  scene  of  which  is  now 
transferred  to  "Washington,  may 

"Lend  this  dead  air  a  breeze  of  health, 
And  smite  with  stars  this  cloud." 

Every  man  feels  and  expresses  the  greatest  alarm  as  to 
Mr.  Sumner.  His  death  would  indeed  be  a  dreadful  event, 
and  would  create  a  sensation  of  more  sincere  sorrow  than 
the  death  of  any  man  known  in  our  historj'. 

[June  2.] 
RELIEF    OF    KANSAS. 

I  gave  you  on  Saturday  an  account  of  the  contest  in  the 
House  upon  the  resolve  appropriating  twenty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  relief  of  the  crushed-out  Massachusetts  men 
now  in  Kansas.  It  would  be  difficult  to  give  you  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  bitter  and  malignant  hatred  of  the  Kansas 
cause,  which  was  exhibited  in  the  speeches  against  this  patri- 
otic and  humane  resolve.  Of  course,  speakers  had  apologies 
to  make  for  their  course :  knavery  and  ruffianism  never 
lack  apologists.  Of  all  the  drivelling,  jabbering,  idiotic 
nonsense  that  ever  got  uttered  in  a  legislative  bod}',  these 
speeches  were  the  worst.  A  hundred  and  ninetj'-one  mem- 
bers deliberately  put  themselves  upon  record  as  approving  of 
the  resolve,  word  for  Avord  ;  but,  after  these  ruffian-SA'mpa- 
thizers  had  spoken,  a  vote  was  obtained  to  la}'  the  resolve 
on  the  table.  To-da}^  an  attempt  was  made  to  take  it 
from  the  table  ;  but  it  failed.  It  is  understood  that  Gov. 
Gardner  is  working  against  it  with  all  his  might ;  and  there 
are  at  least  a  hundred  members  of  the  House  who  will  vote 
against  any  thing  (except  their  own  salaries)  at  his  com- 
mand. 

In  the  afternoon,  another  attempt  was  made ;  and,  under 
the  3-eas  and  nays,  it  was  carried,  115  to  105.  The  resolve 
was  then  postponed  until  to-da}' ;  and  at  ten  o'clock  the 
debate  commenced.  The  border-ruffian  argument  was  pre- 
sented b}^  Messrs.  Lawrence  of  Cambridge,  and  Merwin  and 


218  "  WARRING  TON: " 

Codman  of  Boston  (Whigs),  and  "Wilkinson  of  Dedham 
(border-ruffian  Democrat).  Replies  were  made  by  Mr. 
Pike  of  Newton,  and  Mr.  Charles  Hale.  At  eleven  o'clock, 
Mr.  Grossman  of  Springfield  (border-ruffian)  moved  to  lay 
the  resolve  on  the  table.  Mr.  Hall  demanded  the  yeas  and 
naj's  ;  and  they  were  ordered.  The  vote  was  then  taken, 
with  this  result:  yeas  138,  nays  129.  So  the  resolve  was 
laid  npon  the  table.  This  is  a  distinct  and  unequivocal 
triumph  of  the  border-ruffian  part3^  I  have  several  times 
reminded  3'ou  that  the  House  was  substantiall}'  in  the  hands 
of  this  party.  There  are  about  a  hundred  members,  belong- 
ing to  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  who  are  thoroughly 
imbued  with  ruffian  principles.  Now,  when  you  add  to  these 
some  thirty  or  forty  Know-Nothings,  who  bring  here  no  other 
political  ideas  than  their  intense  hatred  of  all  antislavery 
men  and  measures,  and  quite  a  large  number  of  political 
adventurers,  dependent  for  political  life  and  sustenance 
upon  the  will  of  the  cowardly  conservative  and  corrupt 
schemer  who  fills  the  gubernatorial  office,  yon  will  see  that 
decent  men  and  measures  have  not  a  fair  chance. 

So  mean  a  set  of  men  as  this  Know-Nothing  furor  has  sent 
into  the  Massachusetts  legislature  were  never  seen  together 
before.  Lazj^  unprincipled,  unscrupulous,  mercenary,  and 
slavish,  they  only  seek  to  further  their  own  private  ends  at 
the  expense  of  the  State. 

RASCALITIES    OF   SECRET   SOCIETIES. 

All  the  rascalities  which  I  have  had  occasion  to  notify  you 
of  during  this  session,  so  far  as.  I  remember,  have  origi- 
nated and  been  carried  through  by  members  or  officers,  with- 
out the  agency  of  outside  influence,  so  far  as  appeared.  It 
is  the  shallow  thought  of  many  persons,  that  all  or  most  of 
the  rascalities  are  perpetrated  by  the  professed  politicians. 
The  experience  of  the  last  and  present  year  ought  to  have 
dispelled  this  notion,  which  is  a  great  and  mischievous  mis- 
take. The  innumerable  sins  of  the  Know-Nothing  admin- 
istrations of  1855  and  1856  are,  in  a  great  degree,  to  be 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  219 

attributed  to  the  prevalence  of  this  idea.  The  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  new  men  who  rushed  into  politics  in  1855,  and 
became  prominent  then,  had  the  idea  that  success  and  dis- 
tinction were  to  be  reached  through  the  road  of  intrigue  ; 
and  having  determined  to  succeed,  or  be  distinguished  at 
any  rate,  they  forthwith  proceeded  in  what  the}^  considered 
the  shortest  wa}'.  I  have  lately  seen  a  letter  written  by  a 
member  of  the  House  to  a  newspaper  published  in  the  citj' 
which  he  represents.  This  member  says,  '"Everybod}' 
knows,  that  however  much  we  may  admire  a  bold,  plain, 
truthful  course  in  a  public  man,  such  a  course  is  hardl}'  ever 
successful  in  making  a  man  influential  and  popular ;  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  he  who  turns  his  sail  to  catch  ever}- 
passing  breeze  is  apt  to  triumph  over  his  more  honest  and 
conscientious  opponent."  Probably  the  writer  of  this  ex- 
tract wriggled  into  his  present  position  of  member  of  the 
House  by  some  discreditable  intrigue  or  other ;  and  consid- 
ering his  election  a  great  "  triumph,"  and  his  position  an 
astonishing  elevation  over  the  candidate  of  the  opposing 
parties,  he  comes  to  the  absurd  conclusion  which  I  have 
quoted. 

I  am  sorr}'  to  see  that  the  crooked  policy  of  seeking  power 
by  means  alcin  to  those  which  brought  the  Kuow-Xothhigs  so 
prominently  forward  is  to  be  persisted  in  by  a  class  of 
persons  who  think  that  tlie  experiment  can  be  twice  tried 
with  even  temporary-  success.  The  "  People's  Union  "  is  tlie 
name  of  a  new  secret  order,  which  is  designed  to  bring 
together,  if  possible,  the  Americans  and  the  Republicans,  I 
have  seen  the  constitution  of  the  new  order.  It  has  appar- 
ently but  few  features  attractive  on  account  of  secrec}'.  A 
password  is,  however,  required  for  admission  to  the  meetings. 
The  preamble  consists  of  a  collection  of  words  skilfull}^ 
mingled,  bringing  together  anti-administrationism  and  anti- 
foreignism.  I  don't  understand  that  it  has  had  much  suc- 
cess ;  and  I  don't  think  it  deserves  to  have.  If  there  is  an}' 
thing  plainlv  to  be  seen  in  our  politics,  it  is  this :  that  the 
Administration  party  must  be  defeated  upon  the  single  issue 


220  "WARRINGTON:" 

of  opposition  to  its  slaverj'^  polic}',  or  not  defeated  at  all. 
There  are  thousands  of  voters  who  will  not,  because  the}'' 
can  not,  fight  the  battle  on  any  other  issue ;  and  for  my 
own  part,  next  to  the  slave-power  embodied  in  the  Demo- 
cratic part}^,  I  think  that  Nativism  and  secret  political  soci- 
eties are  deserving  of  the  most  decided  hostility  of  all 
American  and  democratic  men. 

[Jan.  13,  1857.] 
ELECTIOX    OF    MR.    SUMNEK. 

It  was  good  to  be  in  the  Senate  to-day  at  twelve  o'clock, 
and  see  Charles  Sumner  elected  to  the  United-States  Senate 
by  a  unanimous  vote  on  the  part  of  that  branch.  Some 
little  opposition  was  manifested  by  Mr.  B.  C.  Clark  of  Suf- 
folk County  (Republican)  to  the  proposition  offered  by  Mr. 
Whitne}''  of  "Worcester,  to  elect  by  the  viva  voce  method ; 
but  Mr.  Clark  was  the  only  one  who  flnall}'  voted  against  it. 
His  arguments  were  replied  to  —  an  easy  job,  by  the  waj^, 
—  b}'  Messrs.  Brakenridge  and  Warner  of  Hampshire  County, 
Sabin  of  Berkshire,  and  Hoar,  White,  and  Usher  of  Wor- 
cester. The  list  of  senators  was  called  over,  and  every 
one  of  the  forty  responded,  "  Charles  Sumner  of  Boston  ;  " 
and,  when  the  announcement  was  made  of  the  result,  many 
spectators  were  present,  and  the  greatest  satisfaction  was 
expressed.  One  man  told  me  that  he  came  from  a  distant 
town  to  enjoy  the  scene. 

[Oct.  16.] 

THE    STRAIGHT    REPUBLICAN    PARTY.l 

Chapman  Hall  proved  sufficiently  capacious  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  the  Straight  Republicans,  who  held  their 
State  Convention  there  j-esterda^'.  The  room  will  comfort- 
ably hold  three  or  four  hundred ;  and  it  was  pretty  well 
sprinkled  over  with  people.     Making  allowance  for  Banks 

1  This  party  was  formed  against  Gov.  Banks  and  the  coalition  with 
the  "Know-Nothings." 


PEN-POETRAITS.  221 

men,  Gardner  men,  curiosit^'-hunters,  and  reporters,  I  think 
there  were  from  soveuty-five  to  a  hundred  men  who  attended  to 
take  part  in  the  business.  A  preliminary  meeting  was  hekl 
in  the  forenoon  at  tlie  Revere  House,  which  Avas  attended  by 
some  tliirt}'  persons.  Most  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  move- 
ment being  okl  politicians,  all  the  machiner}*  was  well  oiled 
in  the  morning,  and  worked  like  clock-work.  There  was  a 
spontaneit}'  about  the  motions,  the  nominations  from  the 
chair,  the  appointments  of  committees,  &c.,  which  character- 
izes all  well-regulated  parties  ;  and  I  could  not  observe,  that, 
in  these  respects,  the  Convention  differed  much  from  those 
which  are  held  by  much  larger  parties.  We  had  a  president,  a 
respectable  number  of  vice-presidents,  a  sufficient  number  of 
secretaries,  a  committee  on  address,  another  on  resolutions, 
another  on  finance,  another  to  appoint  a  State  committee, 
but  none  on  credentials.  Ever}'  Republican  who  could  not 
go  for  BanlvS  was  welcome :  all  others  were  bogus. 

Dr.  Caleb  Swan  made  a  slight  but  ineffectual  struggle  to 
avoid  the  nomination  for  governor ;  but  it  was  fastened  upon 
him.  The  Convention  voted  not  to  receive  his  declination, 
and  he  did  not  sa}'  any  thing  more. 

Mr.  Henry  L.  Pierce  of  Dorchester,  who  is  nominated  for 
treasurer  and  receiver-general,  was  present ;  and,  as  he  is  the 
man  of  all  others  most  responsible  for  the  movement,  there  is 
no  probability  that  he  will  decline,  unless  he  should  be  elected. 
Dr.  Swan,  however,  who  w-as  the  most  prominent  figure, 
is  from  P^aston,  in  Bristol.  His  speech  in  the  morning  was 
a  hearty  and  genuine  outpouring  of  good-humored  indigna- 
tion against  slavery  and  Know-Nothingism,  which  was  greatly 
applauded.  The  doctor  is  an  old  physician  of  very  exten- 
sive practice.  I  understand  he  has  lately  abandoned  allop- 
athy, and  now  advocates  and  practises  homoeopathy.  You, 
who  know  how  clannish  doctors  are,  will  acknowledge  that 
this  is  an  indication  of  firmness  and  candor,  if  not  of  wis- 
dom. The  longest  speech  was  made  by  Charles  G.  Davis  of 
Plymouth,  lately  a  member  of  the  Banks  State  Committee. 
He  spoke  nearly  an  hour.     F.  W.  Bird  of  Walpole  made  a 


222  "  WARRING  TON : ' ' 

briefer  speech,  which  was  sharp  and  pungent.  A  Mr. 
Chamberlain  of  Westborough  also  spoke.  These,  I  believe, 
were  the  only  set  speeches.  W.  S.  Robinson  reported  a 
State  address. 

[Oct.  30.] 

The  Straight  Republicans  have  got  out  their  last  paper ; 
and,  though  the}"  saj-  something  about  its  continuance,  I 
do  not  think  there  Avill  be  sufficient  "encouragement." 
The}'  have  issued  in  all  some  thirt3'-five  thousand  copies  of 
the  seven  numbers,  —  five  thousand  per  week.  But  few 
of  them  have  been  returned ;  and  probably  they  have  been 
generally  read.  It  is  curious  enough  that  the  Straights 
get  no  sympathy  whatever  from  the  old-line  antislavery 
men,  who  are  represented  bj^  "  The  Liberator."  That  paper 
has  taken  no  notice  of  their  movement,  has  given  the 
coldest  of  its  shoulders  to  Dr.  Swan,  and  this  morning 
ver}'  unequivocally  intimates  its  preference  for  Mr.  Banks. 
Theodore  Parker  takes  a  great  interest  in  Mr.  Banks's 
success,  and  has  tried  personally  to  dissuade  some  of  the 
Straights  from  opposing  him.     Isn't  this  funny? 

[Nov.  C] 

THE    FATE    OF    THE    STRAIGHT   REPUBLICANS. 

As  you  have  indicated  j'our  desire  that  I  should  write 
something  concerning  "  the  fate  of  the  Straight  Republi- 
cans," I  suppose  I  must  gratify'  3'ou ;  and  I  should  have  no 
great  objection,  if  you  would  assist  1113'  correspondence  ever}' 
week  by  asking  questions,  —  a  business  for  which  you  have 
such  a  happy  faculty,  that  I  think  one  of  you  must  have  been 
like  that  relative  of  Dick  Swiveller  who  was  marked  with 
an  interrogation-point.  Some  of  your  questions,  however, 
I  shall  answer  briefly,  and  others,  haply,  not  at  all. 

You  ask,  "Where's  the  Bird  of  freedom?"^  I  answer, 
"  Congratulating  himself  that  AValpole  is  the  banner-town, 

1  F.  W.  Bird. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  223 

Swau  having  received  fourteen  votes  there,  while  he  got  only 
fifteen  in  the  big  cit}'  of  Worcester."  He  has  been  cruelly 
paid  for  all  the  wrong  he  has  done  ;  for,  as  he  tells  me, 
some  Banks  boj's  seized  unlawfully  upon  a  barrel  of  tar 
belonging  to  him,  which,  in  the  flood,  was  left  upon  the  bank 
of  the  "water-privilege,"  and  set  fire  to  it  in  honor  of 
the  triumph  of  "the  cause  of  freedom."  They  not  only 
stole  and  burned  his  tar,  but  frightened  him  with  the  fear 
that  his  mill  was  on  fire. 

You  ask,  "  Where's  Swan?  "  Well,  I  swan  I  can't  tell ; 
but  I  suppose  he  is  advertising  his  globules  to  the  sick 
people  of  Easton,  —  the  most  honest  and  useful  business  a 
doctor  can  be  engaged  in.  "Where's  the  monej' spent  for 
thirty-five  thousand  papers  ?  Wh}'  was  not  this  paper  sold, 
and  the  money  given  to  the  poor?"  Are  you  such  bad 
political  economists  as  to  recommend  the  giving  of  mone}'  in 
charit}-,  rather  than  the  dispensing  of  it  in  the  shape  of 
Avages?  "  Why  was  it  not  distributed  among  conscientious 
voters  from  the  '  gem  of  the  say,'  and  a  few  thousand  votes 
bought  bj-it?"  Because,  probably,  the  object  was  to  sell 
voters,  and  not  to  buy.  "  Have  the  Democratic  distributers 
played  false?"  This,  I  suppose,  is  a  vague  hint  that  some 
Democrats  have  been  interesting  themselves  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  Straight  Republican  A'otes.  This  is  not  improba- 
ble. Gardner  men  also  took  an  interest  in  that  enter- 
prise. But  I  advise  j'ou  not  to  scrutinize  too  closel}-  the 
management  of  other  parties,  until  j'ou  have  informed  your 
readers  that  your  loading  Boston  organ  published,  and 
you  copied,  a  forged  letter  purporting  to  come  from 
CiiAKLES  Sumner,  for  the  purpose  of  influencing  the  elec- 
tion. Has  any  party  in  Massachusetts  ever  done  a  baser 
thing  than  that? 

Your  general  inquiry  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Straight  Ivcpub- 
licans  I  can  best  answer  b}'  saying  their  condition  reminds 
me  of  a  picture  b}'  John  Leech,  the  illustrator  of  "Punch." 
A  little  boy  is  seen  holding  a  big  dog  by  the  collar.  Three 
young  ladies  approach  ;  and  this  dialogue  ensues  :  — 


224  "WAItRINGTON:" 

Boy.  —  "If  yoii  please,  m',  was  you  a-looking  for  a  little  dog?  " 

Youwj  Ladies.  —  "  Yes ;  oh,  yes ! " 

Boy.  —  "  Was  it  a  spannel,  mum? " 

Ladies.  —  "  Oh,  yes !  a  most  beautiful  little  spaniel,  with  very  long 
ears." 

Boy.  —  "Ah,  then,  mum,  it's  the  same  as  flew  at  master's  big  dog 
here,  wot's  bin  and  swallered  of  it." 

Or,  if  30U  prefer  a  more  solemn  description  of  our  condi- 
tion, let  me  quote  for  you  the  words  of  the  sacred  poet :  — 

"  In  vain  we  tune  our  formal  songs ; 
In  vain  we  strive  to  rise : 
Hosannas  languish  on  our  tongues. 
And  our  devotion  dies." 

And  now,  if  you  want  an  epitaph,  let  me  quote  a  couplet 
from  an  ancient  poem,  which  is,  however,  quite  popular  with 
the  most  modern  of  our  inhabitants  :  — 

"Seven,  eight, 
Lay  'on  straight."  ^ 

I  am  glad  that  you  have,  since  the  election,  plucked  up 
courage  enough  to  resume  the  use  of  the  word  "Republican." 
You  remind  me  of  the  henpecked  man,  who,  after  being 
driven  under  the  bed  by  his  wife,  at  last  ventured  to  look 
out,  and,  in  reply  to  a  threatening  shake  of  the  broomstick, 
valiant!}'  said,  "As  long  as  I  have  the  spirit  of  a  man,  I 
will  peek! "  This  is  a  good  sign.  Before  the  election,  the 
unlucky  wight  who  had  dared  to  intimate  that  the  Banks 
part}'  was  Republican  would  have  had  his  hat  knocked  over 
his  eyes. 

The  reign  of  Know-Nothing  terrorism,  then,  is  over,  is  it? 
Thank  God  for  that !  Get  a  name,  and  keep  it.  It  don't 
make  much  difference  what  it  is,  —  whether  Republican, 
American,  American- Republican,  or  Know-Nothing.  One 
of  the  chief  advantages  the  Democratic  party  has  had  lies 
in  the  fact  that  it  has  had  a  name  which  it  has  stuck  to. 

1  The  Republican,  to  whom  this  letter  was  written,  was  a  Banks 
paper,  and  had  probably  touched  "  "Warrington  "  upon  the  failure  of  the 
Swan  movement. 


rEK-PORTRAITS.  225 

Was  it  called  a  Polk  party,  or  a  Pierce  party,  or  a  Buchanan 
part}^,  or,  in  this  State,  a  Morton  or  a  Beach  party?  Never : 
alwa^'s  the  Democratic  party.  The  name,  and  the  persist- 
ence of  the  partj'  in  sticking  to  it,  gave  the  people  an  idea 
of  permanence  and  power,  which  no  opposition  party  ever 
was  able  to  impress  them  with. 

The  name  of  ' '  Republican  ' '  has  the  great  merit  of  mean- 
ing ver}'  little ;  being,  in  that  respect,  almost  equal  to 
"  Whig,"  which  meant  nothing  at  all.  Under  it,  if  you  will 
adhere  to  it,  and  sufficiently  ignore  principles,  3-ou  may 
achieve  that  success  which  it  is  the  duty  ^  of  every  true  man 
to  obtain,  at  whatever  hazard.  Somebody  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "You  must  not  be  too  perpendicular  for  the  sake 
of  principle."  The  beautifully  antithetical  motto  of  our 
time  is,  "You  cannot  be  too  horizontal  for  the  salie  of  suc- 
cess."    Thus  much  from  my  Growlery. 

[Nov.  4.] 

END    OF    GOV.  GARDNER.^ 

About  five  o'clock  3-esterda3'  afternoon,  there  was  a  shout 
in  State  Street,  and  a  rush  of  people  down  toward  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange,  on  a  building  opposite  to  which  men  were 
raising  a  sign  inscribed  with  the  words,  — 

"GARDNER,  'WOLCOTT,  &    CO.,   BANKERS." 

One  hour  after  the  polls  had  closed  in  Boston,  and  even 
before  the  returns  had  come  in  from  the  country,  Gov.  Gard- 
ner had  discovered  that  he  was  badly  beaten,  and  politically 
dead.  It  cannot  be  said  that  he  "  died,  and  made  no  sign  ;  " 
for  his  sign  was  the  first  genuine  and  official  notification  of 

1  "  Success  is  a  duty."  We  supposed  that  this  sentiment  Avas 
properly  attributed  to  Gen.  Banks;  but,  in  looking  over  an  old  volume 
of  the  Whig  Review  for  1852,  we  found  the  following:  "  Shall  we  forget, 
in  view  of  the  election  just  at  hand,  that,  to  that  army  or  partj-  entering 
battle  in  a  just  cause,  success  is  the  first  duty,  defeat  is  the  first 
danger  ?  "  —  W.  S.  E.  in  1858. 

2  Kew-York  Tribune  (letters  in). 


226  "WARRINGTON:" 

his  death.  And  there  are  very  few  mourners.  Even  the 
men  who  dislike  and  distrust  Mr.  Banks  have  a  certain 
amount  of  satisfaction  in  the  defeat  of  Gardner ;  while  the 
scientific  way  in  which  lie  has  been  ' '  licked  ' '  is  calculated 
to  excite  the  admiration  of  all  artists  in  politics. 

That  grim  humorist,  Thomas  De  Quince}',  in  one  of  his 
papers  on  "Murder  considered  as  one  of  the  Fine  Arts," 
relates  how  old  Toad-in-the-Hole  came  forth  from  his  retire- 
ment on  the  morning  after  the  great  "Williams  murder  in 
Ratcliffe  Ilighwa}',  and  proceeded  on  his  way  to  the  club. 
"As  soon  as  he  arrived,"  saj's  the  narrator,  "he  seized  every 
man's  hand  as  he  passed  him,  wrung  it  almost  frantically, 
and  kept  ejaculating,  '  Why,  now  here's  something  like  a 
murder !  This  is  the  real  thing :  this  is  genuine.  This  is 
what  j'ou  can  approve,  can  recommend  to  a  friend.  This, 
saj's  every  man  on  reflection,  —  this  is  the  thing  that  ought 
to  be.'  Then,  looking  at  particular  friends,  he  said,  '  Whj', 
Jack,  how  are  3'ou?  Wh}-,  Tom,  how  are  3'ou?  Bless  me, 
j'ou  look  ten  j-ears  3-ounger  then  when  I  last  saw  3'ou  ! '  — 
'  No,  sir,'  I  replied  :  '  it  is  3'ou  who  look  ten  3-ears  30unger.' 
—  'Do  I?  "Well,  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  I  did:  such  works 
are  enough  to  make  us  all  3-oung.'  "  Some  such  feeling  of 
exultation  is  manifested  b3'  almost  ever3'  man  of  taste  at  the 
exquisite  way  in  which  the  breath  has  been  beaten  out  of 
Henr3'  J.  Gardner ;  and  3'et  the  creature  fought  almost  as 
pluckil}-  as  the  Mannheim  baker,  whose  twent3^-seven  rounds 
with  the  English  boxer  are  also  described  in  the  livelj'  pages 
of  the  "  Opium-eater." 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  227 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ANTISLAVERY  MOVEMENT. 

["  Warrinj^on's  "  Letters  in  Springfield  Eepublican,i  March  20, 1853.] 

A   SONG   OF   EXULTATION. 

"Well,  Judge  Loring's  removal  is,  as  the  French  sa}-,  un 
fait  accompli,  or,  as  Caleb  dishing  said  of  John  T3ler  in  his 
da}',  "  a  fixed  fact."  "While  I  do  not  wish  to  detract  from 
the  credit  which  the  enemies  of  this  measure  are  so  fond  of 
asci'ibing  to  the  Garrisonians  for  their  share  in  bringing 
about  this  auspicious  event,  I  think  I  ma}'  fairl}'  claim  that 
no  man  has  more  steadily'  endeavored  to  bring  it  about  than 
myself.  I  claim  tliat  the  very  first  petition  for  the  removal, 
and  the  very  first  words  urging  that  petition  upon  the  public 
attention,  were  from  m}'  pen.  Being,  on  the  da}-  of  the 
extradition  of  Antony  Burns,  one  of  the  editors  of  "The 
Boston  Commonwealth,"  I  saw  the  dismal  and  disgraceful 
procession  pass  down  State  Street;  and,  before  it  could  have 
reached  the  wharf,  I  placed  a  petition  for  Loring's  removal 
upon  the  desk,  and  published  it  in  an  extra  edition  of  the 
newspaper.  I  am  happy,  also,  to  believe  that  I  have  written 
more  cohimns  in  favor  of  the  removal  than  any  other  person. 

Three  times  has  the  legislature  responded  to  the  popular 
demand  ;  and  at  last  the  Executive  has  consented  to  tbe 
removal.  For  one,  I  thank  him  and  the  Council  for  it ;  for 
I  believe  that  the  importance  of  this  measure,  as  a  step  in 
the  progress  of  the  emancipation  of  the  free  States  from  the 

1  Unless  otherwise  designated. 


228 


"WARRINGTOJtf:" 


control  of  the  slave-power,  cannot  well  be  over-rated.  It 
will  take  rank  with  the  action  of  the  "Wisconsin  judiciar}',  by 
which  the  infamous  Fugitive-slave  Law  has  been  killed  dead 
in  that  State.  The  ban  of  proscription  and  outlawr}'  is  put 
upon  ever}-  man  who  shall  take  a  willing  part  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  that  inhuman  statute.  I  know  of  no  other  way  to 
resist  and  destroy  the  force  of  such  enactments,  but  to  place 
all  such  men  under  such  a  ban  as  this. 

Is  this  treason  ?  Not  at  all ;  nothing  that  resembles 
treason.  Is  it  nullification?  Hardly;  nothing  more  than 
that,  at  any  rate  :  and  nullification  is  a  thing  so  common,  that 
it  need  not  attract  much  attention.  There  are  more  laws 
nullified  to-day  in  Massachusetts  than  there  are  laws  obeyed. 
If  this  is  nullification,  it  is  very  indirect.  No  law  is 
violated  in  the  removal  of  Judge  Loring.  The  measure  is 
a  conservative  one.  In  1855,  perhaps,  it  could  not  have 
been  called  so  with  such  strict  propriety  as  it  now  can  be. 
Loring  himself  has  made  it  conservative.  He  has  placed 
himself  in  the  attitude  of  the  law-breaker ;  and  the  governor, 
unless  he  would  bear  the  sword  in  vain,  must  remove  him  as 
soon  as  the  legislature  demanded  his  removal.  Not  only 
has  Loring  violated  the  law,  but  his  conduct  has  tended,  in 
no  inconsiderable  degree,  to  diminish  the  attachment  of  the 
people  to  the  life-tenure  of  the  judiciary  ;  and,  in  m}'  opinion, 
his  associates  of  the  Probate  Court  owe  much  of  their  present 
trouble  to  him.  But  it  is  as  a  strict  antislaverj-  measure, 
not  as  a  conservative  triumph,  for  conservatism  is  not  ray 
especial  hobby,  that  I  rejoice  in  this  removal.  As  a  declara- 
tion of  war  against  the  Fugitive-slave  Act,  it  has  great  value. 
As  a  stroke  in  favor  of  State  rights,  it  is  inestimable.  It  will 
help  teach  the  people  of  the  State  a  lesson  which  the}'  need 
more  than  the  people  of  an}-  other  Northern  State  ;  viz.,  that 
it  may  yet  be  necessary  —  it  is  becoming  every  day  more 
and  more  necessar}'  —  to  stand  up  for  the  rights  of  the 
States  against  Federal  encroachments,  congressional  and 
judicial. 

]Mr.  Stone,  senator  from  Essex,  in  his  speech,  took  extraor- 


PEN-POBTRAITS.  229 

diuaiy  pains  to  show  that  this  removal  was  to  be  effected 
because  Loring  sat  in  the  Anton}'  Burns  case,  and  took 
part  in  enforcing  the  Fugitive-slave  Act ;  and  he  said  it  was 
a  subterfuge  to  pretend  the  contrar}'.  I  do  not  think  the 
senator  made  out  his  case,  though  I  do  not  cai'e  much  if  he 
did.  Judge  Loring' s  conduct  in  the  Burns  case  —  the  fact 
that  he  sat  in  the  case  at  all  —  was  sufficient  reason  for 
his  removal.  But  that  alone  is  not  the  reason  wh}'  he  was 
removed.  He  is  removed  for  a  persistent  violation  of  a 
law  of  the  State.  That  law  grew  out  of  this  particular  case, 
no  doubt,  and  was  a  general  declaration  of  State  polic}',  not 
onl}'  for  him,  but  for  all  other  men  in  his  condition.  It  is 
competent  for  the  legislature  to  create  new  offences,  and 
provide  for  their  punishment.     This  is  done  eveiy  3'ear. 

Take  the  offence  of  Schu3'lerizing,  as  it  has  been  called. 
Suppose  a  railroad-officer  should  defraud  his  corporation  in 
a  manner  not  punishable  by  law.  Is  it  not  competent  for 
the  legislature  to  make  a  law  defining  and  punishing  his 
offence?  Then  suppose  he  goes  on  in  his  fraudulent  course, 
and,  when  the  corporation  undertakes  to  turn  him  out,  he 
turns  about,  and  saj's,  "  I  have  violated  no  law.  AVhen  I 
began  to  steal,  there  was  no  statute  against  stealing.  Your 
law  was  got  up  to  meet  my  particular  case  ;  and  now  you  are 
turning  me  out  under  pretext  of  violating  this  law,  when, 
in  fact,  )'ou  are  proscribing  me  for  an  act  which  was  not 
contrar}'  to  law.  You  are  committing  an  evasion,  guilty  of  a 
subterfuge."  This  would  be  talking  no  more  uonsensicall}' 
than  Senator  Stone  talks  now. 

"  The  Boston  Daily  Advertiser  "  admits  with  great  frank- 
ness, that  "  the  Republican  party,  not  onl}'  leaders,  but  rank 
and  file,  were  willing  and  desirous  to  let  the  question  la}'^ 
aside  ;  "  and  it  attributes  to  "  a  fiery  article  ^  in  '  The  Xew- 
Yoriv  Tribune,'  "  published  at  a  time  of  "  universal  silence  of 
the  Republican  press  of  Massachusetts  upon  the  subject," 
no  small  influence  in  changing  the  policy.     This  is  but  say- 

1  Written  by  ""Warrington." 


230  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ing  that  "  The  Tribune,"  on  this  subject,  better  represented 
the  Republican  party  than  the  Republican  press  of  the  State. 
And  no  doubt  this  is  true  ;  for  ' '  The  Advertiser  ' '  speaks 
more  than  the  truth  when  it  sa3's  that  the  leaders  and  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Republican  part}'  were  willing  to  evade 
this  question.  Tliis  is  more  than  I,  at  least,  have  ever 
charged.  It  was  only  a  portion  of  the  leaders  who  tried 
to  evade  it;  and  as  for  the  "rank  and  file,"  nothing  but 
their  imperative  demand,  spoken  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives bj'  such  men  as  John  A.  Andrew,  Robert  C.  Pitman, 
George  D.  Wells,  Dexter  F.  Parker,  and  others,  brought  the 
quietists  up  to  the  issue.  Mr.  Pitman's  bold  and  successful 
movement  to  postpone  the  Consolidation  Bill,  in  order  that 
the  address  might  be  first  considered,  was  the  turning-point 
in  the  struggle. 

[April  2.] 
SQUATTER   SOVEREIGXTY. 

Squatter  sovereignty  was  a  device  to  avoid  the  Wilmot 
Proviso.  Old  Gen.  Cass  was  at  one  time  readj'  to  vote  for 
the  proviso  ;  at  least,  so  it  was  currently  reported.  He 
devised  the  squatter-sovereignty  dodge,  and  developed  it  in 
the  Nicholson  Letter.  It  was  substantially  accepted  by 
Congress  in  1850,  when  they  sneaked  out  of  the  dut}'  of  gov- 
erning the  Territories,  and  allowed  the  squatters  and  the 
climate  to  settle  what  the  people  intended  they  should  settle. 
The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was,  I  have  always 
thought,  a  logical  result  of  the  compromise  of  1850.  Con- 
gress had  abdicated  its  government  of  Xew  Mexico  and 
Utah  :  wli}'  not,  also,  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska?  The  scenes 
in  Kansas  were  also  the  legitimate  and  logical  result  of 
squatter  sovereignty. 

All  that  happened  in  Kansas  was  to  have  been  expected. 
Open  a  field  ten  acres  square  in  the  neighborhood  of  Spring- 
field, and  advertise  in  "  The  Republican,"  that,  on  a  certain 
day,  the  man  who  got  there  first  shall  have  the  house-lots  into 
which  it  is  divided,  and  see  if  j-ou  will  not  have  Kansas  on 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  231 

a  small  scale.  Squatter  sovereignt}'  is,  in  fact,  the  abne- 
gation of  all  law,  and  the  encouragement  of  anarchy. 

Next  comes  the  Dred  Scott  decision  to  repair  the  mischief. 
The  slaveholders  —  being  in  danger  of  having  their  property 
voted  out  of  their  hands,  and  themselves  voted  out  of  the 
territory  they  expected  to  control  —  procure  old  Mr.  Taney 
and  his  associates  to  announce  to  the  country  as  constitu- 
tional lasv,  that  the  slaveholder  cannot  be  deprived  of  his 
property,  no  matter  what  the  majority,  heretofore  supposed  to 
be  sovereign,  may  be. 

Gen.  Cass  was  defeated  b}'  the  "Whigs  and  Barnburners,^ 
because,  in  compliance  with  the  Southern  demand,  he  had 
3-ielded  up  the  right  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slaver}'  in  the 
Territories.  Now,  the  struggle  of  the  Republicans  is  to  pre- 
vent the  passage  of  a  law  b}'  Congress  to  enforce  and  sanc- 
tion the  right  of  the  slaveholder  to  his  slave,  wherever  he 
may  choose  to  carry  him  ;  and  at  a  daj-'s  journey  behind 
the  Democratic  party  comes  limping  along  the  Republican 
party,  taking  up  each  old  issue  as  it  is  succcssivel}'  aban- 
doned, and  fondling  it  as  something  very  beautiful  and  god- 
like. There  is  one  good  thing  about  this  new  demand  of  the 
slave-power :  it  acknowledges  the  power  of  Congress  over 
the  Territories.  It  is  the  death-blow  of  squatter  sovereignt}', 
the  most  contemptible  of  all  cheats,  and  the  most  ridiculous 
of  all  humbugs.  The  antagonist  of  the  new  doctrine  is  not 
squatter  sovereignty,  but  the  old  Free-Soil  and  Northern 
Whig  Websterian,  Jeffersonian,  and  Nathan  Dane  doctrine  of 
prohibition.  One  side  believes  in  the  power  and  duty  of 
Congress  to  sustain  slavery  in  the  Territories  ;  the  other 
side,  in  its  power  and  dut}'  to  prohibit.  There  is  an  issue 
worthy  of  a  contest,  and  to  this  it  must  finally  come. 

The  Republican  party  ma}'  unwisel}-  be  induced  to  tag 
round  after  its  rival  a  few  years  more,  occupying  its  old 

1  T!ie  Bariibwners  were  a  New- York  party  of  reformers,  who  believed 
in  burning  the  barn  to  destroy  the  rats  infesting  it,  and  so  destroyed 
their  party  to  get  rid  of  the  bad  elements.  They  evidently  did  not 
believe  in  "reform  within  the  party." 


232  "WARRINGTON:" 

tents,  sleeping  in  its  musty  straw,  and  deeming  tents  and 
straw  fit  habitation  and  bed  for  the  gods  ;  but  it  will  wake 
from  the  delusion  by  and  b3'.  The  people  of  this  country  are 
constitutionalists.  Acquiesce  in  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  let 
them  settle  down  in  the  belief  that  the  Constitution  gives  the 
slave-owner  a  right  to  take  his  propertj"  to  the  Territories, 
and  3'ou  must  admit  his  right  to  have  it  protected  when  it  gets 
there.  The  people  will  never  submit,  and  they  never  ought 
to  submit,  to  have  a  constitutional  right  voted  down  b}'  a 
majority-,  though  that  majority-  be  as  a  million  to  one.  No : 
the  Republican  partj-'s  title  to  support  does  not  consist  in  its 
intention  to  see  fair  pla}'  between  slaveholder  and  non-slave- 
holder. It  consists,  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Seward,  in  "  that 
ver^' characteristic,  which,  in  the  mouth  of  scoffers,  constitutes 
its  great  and  lasting  imbecilit}'  and  reproach.  It  lies  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  part}'  of  but  one  idea ;  but  that  idea  is  a 
noble  one,  an  idea  that  fills  and  expands  all  generous  souls, 
—  the  idea  of  equalit}',  the  equalit}'  of  all  men  before  human 
tribunals  and  human  laws,  as  the}^  all  are  equal  before  the 
divine  tribunal  and  divine  laws."  I  find  no  squatter  sover- 
eignty in  this  platform  of  Mr.  Seward's.  By  this  sign  we 
conquer. 

[IMarch  31,  1859.] 
PERSONAL-LIBERXr   BILL  :    ITS   DEFEAT. 

All  the  papers  rejoice,  though  some  of  them  think  it 
prudent  not  to  saj'  much,  over  the  defeat  of  the  Personal- 
freedom  Bill ;  but  the  laugh  will  probably  be  on  "  the  other 
side  of  the  mouth"  before  a  gi'eat  while.  I  have  seen  a 
number  of  such  victories  within  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 
Not  to  mention  any  others,  there  was  the  victory  of  Messrs. 
Winthrop,  Stevenson,  Hillard,  and  Company,  in  1845,  1846, 
and  1847,  over  S.  C.  Phillips,  Adams,  Sumner,  "Wilson,  and 
Palfre}-.  Within  half  a  dozen  years,  the  jubilant  gentlemen 
who  won  it,  and  were  congratulated  over  it  amidst  huzzas  and 
bonfires,  were  laid  on  the  verj*  topmost  shelf  of  retirement, 
where  they  still  remain.     There  was  the  victory  of  Henry  J. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  233 

Gardner  over  the  legislature  on  the  Judge  Loring  question. 
That  gentleman  received  the  congratulations  of  all  the  Boston 
newspapers;  but  where  is  he  now?  Snugly  reposing  b}- the 
side  of  Winthrop  and  Stevenson  and  Hillard.  There  is  a 
tomb  of  the  Capulets  for  politicians  who  fail  to  respond  to 
the  just  demands  of  the  people  ;  and  it  j-awns  for  more  than 
one  aspiring  gentleman  to-da3%  When  the  personal-freedom 
question  was  first  introduced,  hy  means  of  petitions,  into  the 
legislature,  I  did  not  suppose  it  stood  an}-  chance  whatever 
of  success ;  for  I  did  not  suppose  the  people  cared  a  great 
deal  about  it.  But  there  is  evidently  a  mistake  in  this  view 
of  the  subject.  The  experience  in  antislavery  matters, 
abroad  and  at  home,  which  we  have  had  for  the  last  half  a 
dozen  years,  has  prepared  the  people  for  almost  any  measure 
i^hich  shall  set  the  State  in  array  against  slavery.  Kansas 
and  Charles  Sumner  are  watchwords  which  are  not  soon  for- 
gotten b}'  the  mass  of  the  people  ;  and  the  ease  with  which 
Judge  Loring  was  tumbled  out  of  office,  neck  and  heels,  no 
tornado,  earthquake,  or  other  convulsion  ensuing,  according 
to  the  predictions,  has  taught  them  to  despise  all  threats,  and 
disregard  all  croakings.  The  result  of  the  agitation  on  this 
new  question  will  be  just  like  the  result  on  all  the  rest. 
The  solicitude  which  is  felt,  lest  the  prospects  of  the  Re- 
publican party  in  the  Middle  and  Western  States  should  be 
damaged,  is  quite  amusing.  Who  are  those  w'ho  are  thus 
severely  exercised?  Men,  for  the  most  part,  who  threw 
away  the  election  of  1856  by  dabbling  in  the  dirty  pool  of 
Know-Nothingism  ;  or,  if  they  did  not  do  this,  have  pursued 
a  cautious  and  timid  and  time-serving  policy  in  relation  to  it 
ever  since. 

[Sept.  22.] 
NAMING   THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY. ^ 

All  over  the  United  States,  from  Passamaquodd}'  to  Key 
West,  from  Galveston  to  Fraser  River,  the  opposition  to  the 

1  Republican  was  the  old  name  of  the  Democrats.  Jefferson  was  a 
Itepublk'au,  and  was  elected  by  Republican  votes.  This  was  said  to  be 
the  reason  why  this  name  was  selected  for  the  new  party  in  18oD. 


234  ''WARRINGTON:" 

Democratic  part}'  is  inown  as  the  "  Republican  party." 
Perhaps  it  might  as  well  be  called  aii}^  thing  else  ;  for  the 
name  means  nothing  :  but  that  will  be  the  name,  and  nothing 
can  change  it.  American-Republican  is  too  long  for  popular 
use  ;  and  there  are  plenty  of  other  objections  to  it.  But  even 
that  would  be  better  than  none.  Think  of  a  bab}'  going  three 
years  without  a  name  !  How  j'ou  would  feel,  if  a  visitor 
should  enter  your  house,  and  sa}'  to  3'our  boy  (who  is,  of 
course,  a  fine  boj',  like  all  other  boys),  "What  is  ^'our  name, 
my  little  chap ?  Eh,  eh?  Can't  3-ou  tell?  A  little  bashful, 
I  see.  Afraid  of  strangers,  perhaps"  !  How  would  ^-ou  feel, 
I  sa}',  if  such  a  circumstance  should  occur,  and  30U  should  be 
compelled,  in  order  to  justify' j'our  youngster's  silence,  to  tell 
your  guest  that  you  hadn't  been  able  3'et  to  make  up  j'our 
mind  what  to  call  him ?  He  runs  alone  ;  he  sajs  his  alpha- 
bet ;  he  drives  hoop  ;  he  climbs  the  fence,  and  tumbles  off,  and 
tears  his  clothes  ;  he  is  known  to  all  the  boys  in  the  neighbor- 
hood ;  he  is  preparing  to  "  lick  "  one  of  them  next  3'ear :  but 
you  haven't  yet  provided  him  with  a  name.  Perhaps  you  are 
afraid  of  offending  one  of  his  uncles,  if  j-ou  don't  call  him 
George  ;  and  his  grandfather,  if  3'ou  don't  call  him  Hezekiah  ; 
and  his  mother,  if  3'ou  combine  the  two,  and  call  him  George 
Hezekiah :  so  3'ou  dall3'  and  putter,  and  the  poor  bo;'  grows 
up,  till  the  other  bo3's,  who  must  call  him  something,  give 
him  a  horrid  nickname,  and  send  him  home  ever}'  night  to 
bur3'  his  face  in  his  mother's  sympathizing  apron,  and  be 
sent  weeping  to  bed.  You  find  out  at  last  that  3'OU  had  better 
have  called  him  any  tiling,  —  Ned  or  Nebuchadnezzar,  Eli  or 
Epaminondas,  Zeno,  Zero,  Xerxes,  Lycurgus,  or  an3'  thing 
else,  —  rather  than  have  him  go  without  a  name. 

What  a  bother  it  is,  when  you  are  accosted  by  some  New- 
Yorker  or  lUinoisian,  and  are  asked  if  you  are  a  Republican, 
to  be  obliged  to  sa}',  "  I  belong,  sir,  to  the  party  which  is 
opposed  to  the  present  corrupt  National  Administration  and 
the  aggressions  of  the  slave-power,  and  is  in  favor  of  the  gen- 
eral policy  of  the  present  State  Administration  'i  !  — "When 
is  the  Republican  Convention  to  be  held? "  —  "Don't  know ; 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  235 

but  we  are  to  have  a  convention  of  all  the  legal  voters  of 
Massachusetts  who  are  opposed  to  the  present  corrupt  National 
Administration  and  the  aggressions  of  the  slave-power,  and 
who  are  in  favor  of  the  general  policy  of  the  present  State 
Administration,  at  Fitchburg,  on  the  20th."  —  "  Whom  do  the 
Republicans  of  3'our  State  prefer  for  President  ?  "  —  "  Can't 
sa}' ;  but  the  party  which  is  opposed  to  the  present  corrupt 
National  Administration  and  the  aggressions  of  the  slave- 
power,  and  in  fixvor  of  the  general  policy  of  the  present  State 
Administration,  probabl}'  looks  with  some  favor  upon  Gov. 
Banks."  —  "  Wh}',  what  do  3'ou  mean  by  that  gabble?  Isn't 
that  the  Republican  party?  If  it  is,  why  don't  3'ou  say  so?" 
—  "Well,  I  s'pose  it  is  ;  but  the  fact  is,  our  State  Committee 
are  a  little  afraid  to  say  what  they  mean ;  and,  though  the 
word  '  Republican  '  is  in  common  conversational  use,  we  can't 
use  it  in  conventions  and  committees  and  official  documents 
just  yet."  —  "  Why  not  ?  "  —  "  Oh !  Mr.  So-and-So  says 
we  mustn't  offend  the  Americans  ;  and  '  The  Daily  Buzzer  ' 
thinks  we'd  better  use  the  old  formula  for  the  present."  — 
"Well,  if  j-our  committee  can't  give  the  baby  a  name,  the 
State  Convention  ought  to  do  it  the  very  first  opportunity." 
And  so  I  think. 

There  is  not  much  to  be  said  about  the  Republican  State 
Convention.  It  was  held  at  a  bad  place.  The  State  Com- 
mittee has  no  right  to  go  out  of  its  way  to  accommodate  any 
local  demand  for  a  convention.  Some  portions  even  of 
Worcester  County  were  unrepresented,  because  the  delegates 
coidd  not  go  to  Fitchburg  without  being  away  from  home 
two  niglits.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  convenient  attendance 
of  senators  and  representatives,  there  would  have  been  a 
hundred  towns  uni-oprcsented.  Let  me  here  say  that  I  under- 
stand that  Mr.  Jolm  B.  Alley's  opposition  to  the  Lynn  resolu- 
tion was  not  because  it  demanded  a  name  for  the  party,  but 
because  he  conceived  that  it  contained  a  censure  of  the  State 
Conunittee.  I  understand  him  to  sa^-  that  he  is  in  favor  of 
adopting  the.  name  Republican,  and  took  ground  openly  on 
that  side  of  the  question.     I  am  pleased  to  make  this  correc- 


236  "WARRINGTON:" 

tion.  I  believe  the  resolutions  satisfy  the  public  demand  that 
the  party  shall  be  christened.  "  The  Bee  "  still  insists  that  it 
will  be  perfectly  in  order  for  any  man  who  dislikes  the  name 
Republican  to  call  himself  American-Republican,  or  Oppo- 
sition. I  certainly  agree  with  "  The  Bee."  There  is  no  law 
against  a  man's  doing  absurd  things,  and  making  a  fool  of 
himself ;  and  if,  after  the  authoritative  and  unanimous  adop- 
tion of  the  Republican  name  by  the  Convention,  any  member 
of  the  part}'  insists  that  he  is  a  Republican  with  a  prefix, 
there  can  be  no  controversy  about  his  right  so  to  do. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  23] 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JOEDSr  BROWN  AND  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

["Warrington's"  Letters  in  Springfield  Republican,!  N"ov.  3,  1859.] 

JOHN   BROWN   OF    OSSAWATTOMIE. 

I  AM  loath  to  write  a  letter  without  saying  a  word  about 
John  Brown  ;  but  he  is  one  of  j'our  everj'-cla}'  topics :  ever}-- 
body  is  thinking  of  him,  and  talking  about  him,  and  thinli- 
ing  and  talking  better  than  I  can.  I  believe  he  has  to-day 
more  of  the  popular  respect  and  sj'mpathy  than  an}-  other 
man  in  the  countr}-.  Thoreau  said  one  good  thing;  viz., 
"  The  government  has  no  right  to  hang  a  man  whose  con- 
science tells  him  he  is  right.  Who  can  tell,  in  such  a  case, 
that  the  government  is  right,  and  the  man  wrong?  When 
government  takes  the  life  of  a  man  without  the  assent  of  his 
own  conscience,  it  is  a  step  towards  its  own  dissolution." 

Whether  Virginia  has  a  right  to  hang  Brown  or  not,  she 
cannot  afford  to  do  it.  She  may  be  compelled  to  do  so  by 
an  overpowering  necessity,  but  must  lose  by  it,  and  slavery 
must  lose  by  it.  I  do  not  agree  that  this  enterprise  was  a 
failure.  Nothing  is  a  failure  which  compels  the  people, 
North  and  South,  to  look  at  the  slaver}*  question.  It  is  the 
most  amazing  thing  in  the  world,  that,  with  four  millions  of 
slaves,  —  who  must,  within  the  life  of  some  of  us,  increase,  at 
the  present  ratio,  to  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  millions,  unless 
there  is  some  check, — there  should  be  any  thing  else  thought 
of  or  talked  about.     Do  you  suppose  there  were  any  Edward 

1  Unless  otherwise  designated. 


238  "WA  RRING  TON : ' ' 

Everetts,  or  Dr.  Blagdens,  or  Robert  Winthrops,  going  about 
the  streets  of  Pompeii  and  Hei'cnlanenm,  liushing  up  agitation 
concealing  the  dreadful  portents  that  hung  around  Mount 
Vesuvius?  Brown  is  a  portent  that  needs  to  be  considered. 
He  is  an  indication  of  the  onward  progress  of  the  abolition 
feeling  in  this  countr}'.  Ever}'  da^-,  more  and  more  abolition- 
ists are  coming  upon  the  stage  of  action,  and  more  and  more 
conservatives  and  doughfaces  are  going  off.  Ever}'  da}- 
increases  the  danger  of  border  wars,  stampedes,  and  insur- 
rections. The  government  is  powerless  to  prevent  them, 
though  it  may  now  and  then  hang  a  few  of  the  actors  therein. 
The  question  is  one  that  must  be  met. 

John  Brown  is  "a  genuine  hero.  Don't  let  us  nickname 
him.  He  is  not  ver}'  "old  ; "  and  it  is  a  pity  if  the  emergen- 
cies of  the  Republican  party  are  such,  that  he  must  go  to  his 
death  with  the  label  "  Crazy"  upon  his  forehead.  He  has 
got  to  die  :  let  not  his  reputation  for  heroism  be  taken  from 
him  by  calling  him  insane.  I  wish  we  could  do  something 
for  him  ;  for  he  is  worth}'  of  all  the  choice  gifts,  such  as  the 
children  symbolize  when  they  sing,  — 

"  Uncle  John  is  very  sick: 
What  shall  Ave  send  him? 
Three  gold  wishes, 
Three  gold  kisses. 

What  shall  we  send  them  in? 

In  a  golden  saucer. 
What  shall  we  tic  them  with? 

With  a  golden  garter. 
Who  shall  wo  send  them  by? 

By  the  governor's  daughter,"  &c. 

God  bless  Ossawattomie  Brown  ! 

The  sympathy  for  Brown,  which  so  pervades  the  people  of 
the  free  States,  is,  in  a  great  degree,  owing  to  his  personal 
courage,  piety,  and  conscientiousness,  but  also,  in  great 
degree,  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was  engaged  in  one  of  the 
most  chivalric  and  noble  enterprises  ever  undertaken  by  man. 
He   threw  himself  against  the  power  of  Virginia  and  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  239 

United  States;  and  for  what?  To  steal  land,  like  Lopez 
and  "Walker?  No;  but  to  free  so  many  as  he  could  of  a 
long-suffering  and  troddon-down  people.  For  this,  and  for 
no  selfish  purpose,  he  risked  and  lost  his  own  life.  Purer 
and  nobler  philanthrop}'  was  never  known  in  the  history'  of 
the  world.  The  people  have  not  only  a  profound  respect 
for  Brown,  but  hundreds  and  thousands  of  them  bless  his 
memory  for  the  lesson  he  has  taught  them  of  self-sacrifice  in 
this  asfc  of  self-seekinsc  and  cowardice. 


[Jan.  5,  18G0.] 
EXECUTION    OF   JOHN   BROWN. 

The  execution  of  John  Brown  —  now,  I  suppose,  a  fixed 
fact,  if  an  executioner  can  be  found  with  courage  enough  to 
place  the  rope  round  his  neck  —  will  tend  to  induce  in  members 
of  Congress  of  both  parties  a  spirit  averse  to  compromises. 
This  will  be  the  case,  at  any  rate,  if  the  representatives  par- 
take of  the  spirit  of  the  people  in  an}-  degree.  The  people, 
in  their  workshops  and  on  their  farms,  are  thinking  and  talk- 
ing of  John  Brown.  Our  great  author,  Irving,  is  unfortunate 
in  his  death,  in  one  respect ;  for  men  get  no  time  to  write  or 
read  the  eulogies  which  he  deserves.  Within  fort^'-eight 
hours,  the  most  genuine  representative  of  the  antislavery 
idea  is  to  be  hanged  for  his  efforts  to  carr}'  that  idea  into 
practical  results.  I  do  not  sa\'  he  is  a  truer  man  than  thou- 
sands of  other  men  scattered  all  over  the  North  :  perhaps 
he  was  not  so  wise  as  many  of  them.  But  this,  at  any  rate, 
is  true  of  him  :  professing  to  be  in  favor  of  giving  freedom 
to  the  black  race,  he  went  to  work  in  a  straightforward  way 
to  smite  off  their  shackles  w^ith  his  own  hand.  He  did  not 
wait  for  the  slow  movement  of  ideas :  he  did  not  mean,  if 
he  could  help  it,  to  "  die  without  the  sight."  He  went  right 
at  it,  reasoning  logicalh*,  I  suppose,  in  this  wa}' :  "  Here  are 
four  millions  of  people  to  be  freed :  I  am  determined  at  least 
to  free  one  of  them  for  my  share.  If  every  antislaver}'  man 
will  do  as  much,  the  work  will  be  well-nigh  accomplished." 


240  "WARRINGTON: " 

And  he  did  more  than  his  share.  He  brought  off  out  of 
Missouri  a  considerable  number :  pass  them  to  his  credit. 
His  example  will  inspire  heroism  in  hundreds  of  others  to 
make  their  esc^vpe :  pass  that,  also,  to  the  credit  side.  In 
addition  to  all  this,  he  did  much  towards  the  freedom  of  the 
white  race  in  Kansas.  Possibly  that  State  would  not  have 
been  free  without  him.  Add  to  this  the  immense  work  which 
is  now  being  wrought  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  b}'  his  recent 
life  and  his  death,  and  he  is  fairly  entitled  to  be  named  the 
great  emancipator. 

We  are  surely  the  basest  of  ingrates,  we  antislavery  men 
of  the  North,  if  we  do  not  reverence  his  name  and  bless  his 
memory.  A  thoroughly'  honest  and  righteous  man,  a  thor- 
oughly sane  man  too,  or,  if  insane,  insane  onl}'  as  all  honest 
men  are  insane,  only  as  every  man  who  stands  up  for  princi- 
ples against  apparent  interest  is  insane.  Still  less  is  he 
criminal.  He  has  broken  the  law,  no  doubt ;  but  to  break 
the  law  is  not  necessaril}-  to  commit  a  crime.  They  broke 
the  law  who  released  Jerrj'  at  Sj'racuse,  and  Shadrach  at 
Boston  ;  but  nobodj'  thinks  them  criminals.  Men  have  even 
shed  blood  contrary  to  law,  who  are  not  reckoned  as  crimi- 
nals :  na}',  hundreds  of  them,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  have 
been  cherished  and  honored  as  martyr-heroes.  Virginia 
punishes  John  Brown  as  a  murderer  and  traitor ;  but  he  is 
neither :  he  is  a  hero  and  a  martjT. 

"  Woe  for  the  hour  when  it  is  crime 

To  plead  the  poor  dumb  bondman's  cause ; 

When  all  that  makes  the  heart  sublime, 

The  glorious  throbs  that  conquer  time, 
Are  traitors  to  our  cruel  laws  1 

He  strove  among  God's  suffering  poor 

One  gleam  of  brotherhood  to  send : 
The  dungeon  oped  its  hungry  door 
To  give  the  truth  one  martyr  more, 

Then  shut ;  and  here  behold  the  end  I " 


1 


PE2^P0RTRAITS.  241 

[May  24.] 

PRESIDENT  Lincoln's  nomination. 

"The  people  of  the  United  States  are  the  rightful  mastei-s  of  both 
Congress  and  courts." 

Abraham  Lincoln  has  announced  the  irrepressible  con- 
flict as  distinctly,  if  not  as  happilj',  as  Seward.  He  has 
fought  a  gallant  campaign  with  the  representative  of  all  that 
is  bad,  rufiianlj',  John  Ileenanish,  in  American  politics, — 
Stephen  A.  Douglas ;  and,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  has  not 
lowered  the  standard  of  straight-out  Republicanism  one  inch. 
He  has  courage,  and  will  never  let  go  :  — 

"  The  mongrel's  hold  may  slip; 
But  only  crowbars  loose  the  bull-dog's  grip." 

"We  have  got  to  defend  all  his  radicalisms  and  ultraisms. 
That  one  sentence  I  have  quoted  will  be  dinned  into  the  ears 
of  a  million  of  voters  a  million  of  times  between  now  and 
election-day ;  and  it  will  be  an  education  worth  having. 
Here  is  the  apostle  of  genuine  popular  sovereign!}'.  He  is 
not  one  of  your  sham  sovereignty  men ;  no  Douglas,  who 
don't  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  down ;  no  Eli 
Thayer,  who  pledges  himself  to  keep  the  negro  out  of  Con- 
gress, and  strikes  hands  with  the  border-ruffians  to  defeat 
Grow' 8  territorial  bills,  and  tries  to  keep  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  out  of  the  Republican  platform.  He  stands, 
as  I  understand  him,  on  the  old  Whig  and  Free-Soil  ground 
of  prohibition,  by  one  means  or  another,  or  all  means,  or 
at  all  hazards.  I  trust  his  letter  of  acceptance  will  not 
diminish  the  confidence  of  the  antislavery  men  in  him.  If 
he  "trims,"  he  is  lost. 

Then  hurrah  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin!  "Abe  Lincoln," 
if  3'ou  please.  "  Honest  Abe  Lincoln,"  if  you  please  ;  though 
I  don't  lay  much  stress  upon  this  appellation.  If  Lincoln  is 
not  something  more  than  honest,  he  is  not  fit  for  President. 
The  men  who  stroll  into  mock-auction  shops,  and  are  vic- 
timized by  the  Peter  Funks,  are  "  honest:  "  the  Vermonters 
and  New-Hampshire  men  who  wandered  off  to  Chicago,  and 


242  "WAERINOTON: " 

believed  Horace  Greelej',  and  Andrew  Cuitin,  and  Henry  S. 
Lane,  when  the}^  said  "William  H.  Seward  could  not  be 
chosen,  were  "honest,"  but,  oh,  how  jolly  green!  "Abe," 
I  am  confident,  is  something  moi'e  than  "honest."  "Abe 
Lincoln,  the  rail-splitter,"  if  you  please;  for  I  suppose 
human  nature  is  the  same  now  as  it  was  in  1840,  when  we 
shouted  ourselves  hoarse  for  Han-ison,  and  decorated  log- 
cabins,  and  rolled  "big  balls"  through  the  streets.  Then 
here  it  is :  — 

Hurrali  for  Lincoln  and  Hamlin !  |, 

Hurrah  for  the  defeat  of  the  Fogies !  r 

Hurrah  for  the  downfall  of  Know-]!^othingism  I  , 

Hurrah  for  a  sound  Reimblican  platform  1 
Hurrah  for  a  party  name !  ? 

But  f 

A  wail  for  William  II.  Seward !  'I 

A  wail  for  party  cowardice  and  folly  I  f 

A  wail  for  opportunities  lost!  * 
"Woe  is  me,  Alhama!" 

All  these,  however,  atoail  nothing.  Let  the  hurrahs  predomi- 
nate. By  the  wa}-,  I  have  seen  Barry's  picture  of  Lincoln; 
and  I  am  satisfied  that  he  is  as  ugly  as  his  most  enthusiastic 
admirers  claim.  But  he  looks  like  a  man  of  ability  and 
substantiality,  as  he  is.  His  ugliness  won't  hurt  him  an}'. 
If  he  gets  the  votes  of  all  the  ugly  men,  he  will  have  an 
immense  majority ;  for  the  male  human  race,  in  its  common 
aspects,  is  by  no  means  beautiful.  Yet  most  boys  are  hand- 
some. AVhy  don't  they  gi'ow  up  handsome?  It  is  hard 
work,  and  poverty,  and  rum  and  tobacco,  and  selfishness, 
and  pride  and  vanitj',  and  all  the  other  and  foolish  propensi- 
ties and  bad  habits,  which  so  play  the  dense  with  their  good 
looks.  Lincoln  looks  like  a  man  who  had  inherited  rough 
features,  and  had  kept  them  rough  by  a  hard  scrimmage  with 
life  ;  but  he  is  not  half  so  ugly  as  some  of  the  men  who  pass 
for  handsome,  and  who  were  born  handsome,  and  lived 
so  till  they  were  old  enough  to  begin  to  smoke  bad  cigars, 
and  "chaw"  nasty  tobacco,  and  drink  "  rot-gut."  We 
have  had  uglier  presidential  candidates  than  Lincoln.     Do 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  243 

j-ou  remember  "Old  Zack's"  lip?  "Wasn't  that  horrid? 
Yet  he  went  in  over  the  unctuous  Cass  and  the  smooth  Van 
Buren,  and  was  a  better  man  than  either  ;  and  I  don't  com- 
pliment him  any  hj  sa3-ing  this. 


[Sept.  13.] 


,1 


THE    BELL-EVERETT^    PARTY. 

As  I  was  standing  near  Scolla^-'s  Building  about  two 
o'clock  3'esterday  afternoon,  waiting  for  the  horse-car,  I 
heard  a  great  ding-donging.  "  What  the  d — I's  that?"  said 
a  man  by  my  side.  We  dodged  round  the  corner  ;  and  there 
we  saw,  coming  up  Court  and  turning  into  Tremont  Street, 
a  vehicle  drawn  by  several  horses,  and  containing  an  im- 
mense hell,  the  rope  of  which  a  stout  man  was  vigorously 
pulling,  and  from  which  the  chopper-trap  was  proceeding. 
"Oh,  Bell  and  Everett!"  said  I;  "meeting  at  Roxbury 
to-night."  My  neighbor  doubled  himself  up  as  if  he  had 
a  severe  pain  in  his  bowels,  such  as  one  might  have  after 
eating  a  hearty  supper  of  milk,  cucumbers  and  vinegar, 
green  currants  and  gooseberries,  and  lobster-salad  ;  roared 
three  times,  "  Haw,  haw,  haw  !  "  and  vanished  into  a  car 
bound  to  the  South  End.  ■  I  looked  over  to  Gray's  iron 
building,  and  saw  three  men  extended  on  the  sidewalk  in  a 
fit  —  of  laughing.  I  know 'em  :  they  were  young  law3-crs, 
Lincoln  men,  feigning  to  be  pleased  with  the  demonstration. 
The  bell  passed  on,  the  ringer  pulling  most  vehementl}'.  I 
could  not  recognize  him,  and  therefore  cannot  positivel}'  say 
whether  it  was  George  Lunt,  George  Ilillard,  George  Curtis, 
Leverett  Saltonstall,  Daniel  Warren,  Augustus  C.  Care}', 
Henry  J,  Gardner,  B.  Flint  King,  Amos  A.  Lawrence, 
Samuel  H.  Wallc}',  or  Van  Duzenbur}'.  There  were  two 
men  on  board :  I  could  not  distinctly  recognize  what  the 
second  man  was  doing ;  but  I  think  he  was  holding  out  his 

1  Bell-Everett  party.  Jolm  Bell  and  Edward  Everett  were  the  hun- 
ker, proslavery,  Deiuociatic  candidates  for  President,  in  opiwsition  to 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  18G0. 


244  "  WARRINGTON: " 

hat  for  contributions.  People  all  along  Tremont  Row  were 
stopping  to  look :  it  did  not  take  them  long  to  catch  the 
joke;  for  "Bell  and  Everett"  was  painted  on  the  wagon. 
They  wagged  their  heads,  rolled  their  eyes,  shifted  their 
quids  from  one  side  to  the  other,  chuckled  or  sneered,  and 
passed  on.  It  was  too  bad  to  laugh  at  it.  A  more  orderly 
and  respectful  funeral  procession  I  have  never  seen,  though 
the  mourners  were  few.  I  would  suggest  a  different  kind  ^'^j 
of  carriage,  something  in  the  catafalque  style  ;  and  here  is 
an  inscription  which  would  be  suitable,  from  one  of  Dr. 
Holmes's  poems  :  — 

"Ding-dong!  ding-dong! 
The  world  is  in  a  simmer,  lilie  a  sea 
Over  a  pent  volcano.    Woe  is  me 
All  the  day  long!" 

This  last,  "Woe  is  me  all  the  day  long!"  concentrates 
the  whole  philosophy  of  the  whole  Bell-Everett  part}^,  and  is 
the  substance  of  their  ten  thousand  speeches  and  letters  and 
editorial  articles.  But,  though  there  is  no  jollity  in  these 
fellows,  they  keep  other  people  good-natured.  Talk  of 
Hood!  Well  "Hood's  Own,"  and  "Up  the  Rhine,"  and 
the  "Ode  to  Rae  Wilson,"  and  the  punning  ballads,  will 
make  you  laugh,  but  not  more  than  one  of  Lunt's  editorials ; 
and  Charles  Lamb  and  Sydne3^  Smith  never  made  better 
jokes  than  George  T.  Curtis  in  his  Roxbur^^  speech.    • 

In  1852  I  was  a  good  deal  interested  in  the  canvass  for 
President,  going  in  strongly  for  Ensign  Stebbings ;  and  I 
made  a  calculation  for  "The  Carpet-Bag, "  which  was  his 
organ,  showing  that  he  would  receive  something  more  than 
twenty  thousand  electoral  votes,  —  not  mere  popular  votes,  of 
which  a  man  may  receive  half  a  million,  and  3'et  have  no 
good  from  them.  He  was  going  to  receive  the  vote  of  Maine 
on  the  strength  of  his  letter  to  the  Mayor  of  Saccarap,  declar- 
ing himself  to  be  in  favor  of  the  Maine  Law,  and  against  its 
enforcement,  and  so  on.  I  mention  this  here,  partly  to  illus- 
trate Curtis' s  speech,  and  parti}'  to  show  that  the  stand- 
ing joke  of  Stebbings  and  the  Maine  Law,  which  is  now  used 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  2i5 

» 
pretty  often  in  the  newspapers,  is  "  my  thunder."     "A  poor 

thing,  but  my  own,"  as  Touchstone  saj's  of  Audr}'.  Now,  it 
turned  out  that  Stebbings  got  no  votes.  What  was  a  feeble 
attempt  at  waggery  in  1852  is  deadl}^  earnest  with  George  T. 
Curtis  in  18G0.  His  Stebbings  is  Edward  Everett ;  and  he  is 
as  grave  as  a  judge,  (and  he  is  a  judge :  didn't  he  adjudi- 
cate a  man  into  slavery  ten  j^ears  ago  ?)  —  as  grave  as  a 
judge,  in  his  attempt  to  prove,  that,  if  Mr.  Bell  is  not  elected 
President,  Mr.  Everett  will  be  elected  Vice-President  by  the 
Senate,  and  so  will  become  President. 

The  venerable  Bell-Everetts  came  out  on  Monday  before 
election  jubilant ;  but  on  Tuesday  how  changed  were  they ! 
Men  of  six  feet  two  had  sunk  to  five  feet  three  ;  men  of 
two  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  were  reduced  to  a  hundred 
and  sixty.  "  Wh}',  sir,  you  look  thin!  "  was  the  common 
remark.  "Ah,  yes!  I've  worked  too  hard  this  summer; 
didn't  take  my  usual  trip  to  Newport ;  nothing  permanent: 
shall  pick  up  in  a  few  days."  —  "  Well,  3'ou'd  better  go  home 
and  rest  a  while."  So  they  went  home  as  soon  after  two 
o'clock  as  possible,  drank  catnip-tea,  and  cursed  "The 
Courier"  till  bedtime.  Some  of  them  took  it  still  more 
seriousl}'  to  heart.  Large  numbers  of  them  made  their  last 
wills,  in  view  of  impending  dissolution,  remembering  the 
Southern  Aid  Societj'  in  their  affliction  ;  that  being  the  only 
religious  organization  perfectly-  sound  on  the  question  of 
slaveiy,  and  certain  so  to  remain.     The  Tract  Societ}'  and 

the  American  Board  may  apostatize ;   but  the  Rev.  L 

F will  circulate  his  doughface  gospel  as  long  as  he  lives. 

[Nov.  8.] 
PRESIDENT  Lincoln's  election. 
Well,  Lincoln  is  elected  ;  the  Democratic  party  is  finally 
split  to  pieces,  and  destroyed  ;  and  the  Bell-Everett  part}'  is 
shovelled  underground,  —  "dirt  to  dirt."  The  beaut}'  of 
the  thing  is,  that  this  "  Constitutional  Union  "  party,  having 
consorted  with  the  only  disunion  part}^  in  the  countr}',  must 


246  "  WARRINGTON: " 

stand  l\y  the  cliaracter  and  reputation  which  it  has  won  for 
itself.  The  Republican  party  is,  from  this  moment  at  least, 
the  party  upon  which  Constitutionalists  and  Unionists  must 
rely.  I  think  the  Republican  party  is  now  so  well  founded 
here,  that  no  paper  by  abandoning  it  can  harm  it  much,  and 
no  paper  b}-  joining  it  can  add  greatly  to  its  vote.  Different 
schools  of  the  part}-  may  be  aided  or  impeded  b}-  particular 
presses  ;  and  the  results  of  conventions  ma}-  be  affected  some- 
times, but  seldom  the  results  of  general  elections.  Massa- 
chusetts is  Republican,  now  and  forever;  and,  though  there 
ma}-  be  occasional  re-actions,  the  Republicanism  of  the  State 
will  rise  higher  and  higher  every  3'ear,  till  it  is  universall}- 
accepted  as  Christianity  is,  and  there  will  be  no  controvers}' 
as  to  its  essential  doctrines.  By  and  b}-,  George  Lunt  and 
"The  Boston  Courier"  will  be  conservative  Republicans, 
fighting  for  moderation  in  the  ranks,  and  against  the  new 
lights,  who  will  gradually  encroach  upon  it,  and  beat  it,  as 
usual. 

The  melancholy  da3's  have  evideutl}-  come  for  Lunt,  the 
saddest  of  the  year ;  though  all  days  are  sad  enough. 
"Autumn's  doing  brown  "  for  him,  sure  enough.  Perhaps, 
however,  he  may  get  into  the  House  of  Representatives  from 
Ward  Four ;  for  I  see  he  has  got  the  nomination.  If  the 
Bell-Everett  coalitionists  are  going  to  elect  anybod}-,  I  hope 
it  will  be  Lunt.  Next  to  having  an  able  and  popular  man 
of  your  own  part}-  in  the  legislature,  it  is  best  to  have  an 
unpopular  man  of  the  opposite  side.  Lunt  would  be  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  House  in  less  than  a  week.  If  he  has 
not  "the  most  winning  way  of  making  people  hate  him," 
he  has,  at  least,  a  great  facility  for  exciting  mirth  and  con- 
tempt. Mr.  Hillard's  sarcastic  compliment  upon  him  is  one 
of  the  best  things  of  the  kind  extant.  He  said  that  Mr. 
Lunt  must  be  loved  before  he  could  be  fully  known.  That 
is  so.  And  here,  by  the  way,  let  me  tell  a  story  of  a  dis- 
tinguished literary  lady  who  once  sent  an  article  to  "The 
Courier,"  which  pleased  the  editors  so  greatly,  that  they 
asked  her,  through  Mr.  Hillard,  what  they  should  pay  her 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  247 

to  insure  from  her  regular  contributions.    "Bring  me  George 
Lunt's  head  in  a  charger,"  said  she. 


[Dec.  5.J 
TREMONT-TEMPLE   MOB. — THE   KECENT   RESPECTABLE   RIOT.^ 

I  use  the  word  "  riot "  in  no  offensive  sense,  but  for  conven- 
ience. The  rioter  of  one  da}'  is  a  revohitionary  patriot  the 
next  5'ear  ;  and,  if  these  gentlemen  succeed  in  permanently 
putting  down  free  speech  in  Boston,  I  shall,  after  the  cus- 
tomary usage,  change  the  designation.  But  as  the  experi- 
ment remains  doubtful,  with  the  chances  at  present  against 
them,  I  will  stick  to  the  word  I  have  used.  Certain  men  had 
hired  tlie  hall,  and  were  presumed  to  be  able  and  willing  to 
pa}-  for  it,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  best  means  of 
abolishing  slavery.  Certain  other  men  made  an  irruption 
into  it,  violentl}'  and  riotousl}-  took  possession  of  it,  wrested 
it  from  its  purpose,  in  fact  burglariously  entered  and  stole 
it ;  and  the  police,  instead  of  interrupting  the  process,  pro- 
ceeded with  the  utmost  coolness  to  dispossess  the  original 
and  rightful  owners.  It  is  no  wonder,  that,  when  the  mayor 
and  the  police  have  thus  got  their  heads  turned  topsy-turvy  on 
the  subject  of  their  dut}'  of  preserving  the  peace  of  the  cit}', 
the  insanit}-  should  also  seize  the  juries,  the  district-attornej's, 
and  other  officers  of  the  courts,  so  that  there  should  be,  as 
there  has  been  for  the  last  year,  almost  complete  immunity 
for  rogues  and  rascals  of  all  sorts.  I  do  not  mean  to  blame 
the  police.  The}'  were  acting  under  orders,  or  supposed  they 
were  ;  though  it  was  hard  to  find  out  what  the  orders  were. 

Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  finding  himself  excluded  from  the  hall, 
—  at  a  time,  too,  when  there  was  no  greater  disorder  than  is 
frequent  in  political  meetings,  —  demanded  the  reason  ;  and 
was  told  by  the  police-officer  at  the  door,  that  the  chief  had 
given  orders  that  no  one  should  be  admitted.  The  doctor 
proceeded  to  the  mayor's  office,  and  there  found  the  chief, 

1  New-York  Tribune  (letters  in). 


248  "WARRINGTOK:" 

who  told  him  he  had  given  no  such  orders.  The  fact  is, 
probabl}',  that  he  had  forgotten  all  about  it,  or  had  given  all 
sorts  of  contradictory  orders,  or  had  given  no  orders  ;  and 
the  oflScer  at  the  door  was  doing  his  best  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility. An  incapable  officer  is  always  the  worst  of  rioters 
in  a  disturbance  of  this  kind  ;  and  if  somebody  had  read  the 
Riot  Act  to  the  chief,  and  dispersed  him,  he  would  have 
done  good  ser^dce.  His  subordinates  (plague  on  it !  I  keep 
speaking  as  if  he  was  not  himself  the  most  ridiculous  of 
subordinates,  servile  to  all  the  earthh'  influences)  were  one 
moment  hustling  a  man  out,  and  the  next  moment  returning 
him,  and  apologizing  for  their  roughness ;  and  Mr.  F.  B. 
vSanborn,  the  lawful  chairman,  was  actually  rescued  out  of 
the  hands  of  one  officer  by  two  others,  who  returned  him 
safely  into  the  hall  from  which  he  had  been  rudely  ejected. 
Most  of  them  were  good-natured  and  clever  fellows,  who 
would  have  gladly  done  their  duty  if  they  had  been  properly 
guided. 

But  I  am  stra3-ing  from  m}^  purpose,  which  was  to  give 
you  the  names  of  some  of  the  solid  and  respectable  men  who 
undertook  to  "  set  Boston  right."  The  vindication  of  Boston 
was,  unfortunatel}',  left  to  such  small  fry  as  Oliver  Stevens, 
and  Thomas  Farmer,  and  Cherrington,  and  young  Choate,  and 
Jo.  Bell,  and  Harry  Horton,  and  Watson  Freeman,  jun.,  and 
the  mass  of  named  and  nameless  riff-raff  that  followed  them. 
It  would  have  been  a  cheerful  and  pleasant  sight  if  we 
could  have  seen  Mr.  Everett  himself  raising  his  clarion 
voice  and  his  quivering  finger  in  behalf  of  the  countrj^  at 
this  crisis  of  her  fate ;  or  Mr.  Hallett  interposing  his  burly 
form,  like  Mr.  "Webster's  "broad  shield  of  the  Constitution," 
between  our  united  country  and  James  Redpath  ;  or  Mr. 
Winthrop  winding  his  cloak  about  him  with  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  striking  a  heart}'  blow  from  the  shoulder  for 
the  Union  and  for  the  laws  ;  or  Mr.  Whitney  encouraging 
his  squad  of  gangers  and  inspectors ;  or  Mr.  Lunt  piously 
lifting  up  his  voice,  and  asking  the  blessing  of  the  God  he 
ignorantly  worships   on   the   good   work ;    or   Col.    Greene 


PEir-PORTRAITS.  249 

doing  penance  for  his  early  eiTors  in  the  cause  of  free 
speecli  in  Abner  Kneelaucl's  case,  by  helping  to  mob  men 
as  unpopular  as  Kneeland  ever  was.  But,  alas !  these  men 
seem  to  have  been  satisfied  with  urging  on  the  mob,  or  with 
the  still  more  ignominious  part  of  rejoicing  over  what  it 
accomplished.  • 

Mr.  Richard  S.  Fay  and  Mr.  J.  Murraj'-  Howe  were  the 
most  conspicuous  persons  among  the  rioters.  Mr.  Fa}-  was 
de  facto  chairman  for  a  time,  and  Mr.  Howe  thought  he 
occupied  the  same  position  afterward.  Mr.  Fay  is  a  wealthy 
man,  resident  in  Lynn.  Though  not  a  Boston  man,  he  evi- 
dently feels  as  great  a  responsibilit}'  for  the  existence  and 
success  of  our  experiment  of  government  as  the  solidest 
man  we  have,  even  Mr.  G.  T.  Curtis  himself.  Col.  Jonas 
H.  French,  who  was  very  active  in  the  good  work,  was  one 
of  Gov.  Gardner's  aides.  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  a  broker, 
was  ver}-  livelj'-,  compromising  his  dignit3'  so  much,  I  am 
informed,  as  to  assault  a  negro.  Mr.  "William  D.  Swan, 
book-publisher,  and  two  3'oung  Swans,  Avere  heart}'  sympa- 
thizers. So  was  Mr.  Arthur  Gilman,  architect  —  of  his  own 
fortune  as  well  as  of  sundry  churches,  and  an  excellent 
story-teller.  AVilliam  C.  Fay,  described  sarcastically  b}^ 
"The  Traveller"  as  a  gentleman  of  "great  respectability 
and  considerable  prominence,"  Charles  A.  Brewer  and 
Michael  Scanlan,  and  Isaac  P.  "Wainwright  and  Charles  C. 
Hobbs,  ai'c  men  of  less  note  ;  and  I  do  them  a  service  in 
bringing  them  before  the  public  in  such  respectable  com- 
pan}'.  In  addition  to  Choate,  jun.,  and  Jo.  Bell,  the  bar 
was  represented  by  B.  F.  Russell  and  Oliver  Stevens.  Per- 
haps these  are  not  the  highest  names  at  the  Boston  bar ;  but 
thej-  maj'  be  considered  rising  men  after  Monda3''s  work. 
Mr.  Horton  (before  mentioned)  is  of  the  firm  of  F.  Skinner 
&,  Co.,  and  is  a  worthy  representative  of  dr3-goods  principles. 
John  C.  Boyd,  William  C.  Rogers  (a  Salem  merchant),  J. 
H.  and  "W.  F.  Loud,  J.  T.  Coolidge,  jun.,  Charles  Larkin, 
William  J.  Parsons  (son  of  Prof.  Parsons),  Plunkett, 
Moonc}",  and  Marble  (custom-house  oUicers,  ver}'  uois}'  and 


n 


250  "WARRINGTON:" 

disagreeable),  William  Aspinwall  of  the  old  "Whig  State 
Committee,  and  others,  are  mentioned  to  me  as  having  been 
irritant  in  season  and  out  of  season.  Then  there  were 
Amor3-s,  Heaths,  Randalls,  and  so  on,  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

If  1  have  omitted  any  names,  I  shall  gladl}",  on  proper 
application,  suppl}-  them ;  and  if  an}'  gentleman  disclaims 
the  honor,  or  feels  himself  unworthy  of  the  choice  companion- 
ship I  have  given  him,  I  shall  take  pains  to  make  the  neces- 
sarj'  correction,  so  that  the  future  chronicler  who  searches 
the  files  of  "The  Tribune,"  out  of  which  historj- will  be 
written,  may  not  fall  into  an}-  errors.  You  will  see  that  all 
professions  and  classes  were  represented.  The  shoulder- 
hitters  were  very  strong.  The  chief  of  police  remarked  con- 
cerning one  of  them,  that  he  deserved  to  be  arrested  every 
night  of  his  life :  he  let  him  alone,  however,  on  this  occa- 
sion. One  gentleman,  who  is  under  indictment  for  an 
attempt  to  kidnap,  was  observed  to  be  active  in  the  good 
work. 

The  literary  class  was  represented.  One  gentleman  was 
pointed  out  to  me  as  the  author  of  a  work  on  "  The  Evasion 
of  Payments,"  "  The  Autobiography  of  a  Jeremy  Diddler," 
"Handbook  for  Swindlers,"  "  Stealing  without  a  Master," 
"  Bird's-eye  View  of  Boston,  with  Particular  Directions 
how  to  Dodge  a  Policeman,"  and  other  elementary  works 
which  I  have  never  seen,  and  which  I  suspect  are  still 
unpublished. 

People  generally  treat  the  affair  as  a  mere  outbreak  of 
riotous  young  men.  They  are  very  much  mistaken.  It  was 
part  of  the  Southern  Rebellion.  The  Northern  cities  are  full 
of  traitors  and  secessionists,  who  would  be  glad  to  see  an 
outbreak  at  Washington  before  the  4th  of  March,  and  the 
capital  seized  and  held  by  a  slaveholding  cabal  as  a  "pro- 
visional government."  If  Caleb  Cushing,  and  George  B. 
Loring,  and  Fernando  Wood,  and  the  custom-houses,  are  not 
in  the  conspiracy,  their  actions  belie  them.  I  believe  there 
will  be  such  an  outbreak,  and  that  this  riot  in  Boston  is  part 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  251 

of  the  machinery  designed  to  assure  the  men  who  will  engage 
in  it  that  they  will  not  be  put  down  by  the  people  of  the 
North.  Northern  people  will  have  more  than  they  can  do  to 
take  care  of  themselves. 

[Dec.  20.] 
PRESIDENT    BUCHANAN,    AND    GENERAL    PRATING. 

Mr.  Buchanan  proposes  to  have  a  general  praying.  When? 
Not  now,  but  on  the  4th  of  Januar}', — more  than  a  fortnight 
hence.  If  praying  is  going  to  do  an}'  good,  why  not  pray 
now  ?  The  old  gentleman  should  merel}'  have  sent  out  his 
rescript,  saying,  "  Pra}'  immediately,  eveiy  mother's  son  of 
you!  "  Suppose  the  captain  or  chaplain  of  a  ship  should 
call  the  crew  and  passengers  together,  and  say  to  them, 
"  Gentlemen  and  ladies,  we  are  on  the  rocks,  and  in  danger 
of  breaking  up  ever}'  instant ;  our  boats  have  been  washed 
overboard,  or  stove  to  pieces  ;  there  is  no  sail  in  sight ;  and 
there  is  no  help  for  us  but  in  the  mercy  of  God :  therefore 
I  suggest  that  on  Wednesday  next  we  have  a  prayer-meet- 
ing on  the  quarter-deck  (or  on  the  rocks,  as  the  case  may 
be),  to  see  if  we  cannot  get  some  relief  in  that  way." 

The  President's  proclamation  makes  me  think  that  the 
danger  is  not  imminent.  lie  draws  a  vivid  picture,  to  be  sure, 
of  the  perils  of  the  country,  —  disunited  States,  starving 
populations,  and  all  that ;  but  I  think  he  is  more  frightened 
than  he  need  to  be.  You  perhaps  remember  the  stor}-  of  the 
sensation  orator  in  troublous  times,  A\ho  wrought  upon  his 
hearers  and  himself  so  powerfully,  that,  a  slight  crack  being 
heard  amid  the  stillness,  they  and  he  fell  to  the  ground  in 
awe  and  trembling,  believing  his  prophecies  had  come  to 
l)ass,  and  that  the  final  crash  had  come.  But,  after  they 
had  "  recovered  from  their  swound,"  they  ascertained,  that, 
instead  of  the  crack  of  doom,  it  was  only  the  breaking  of  the 
orator's  suspenders  which  had  alarmed  them.  Old  Buck  has 
broken  his  suspenders,  and  thinks  the  world  is  coming  to  an 
end.  Or  does  he,  like  a  good  many  others,  mean  to  pray 
for  the  sake  of  getting  courage  to  do  some  new  mean  thing? 


252  ' '  WARRINGTON: " 

or,  having  determined  upon  the  mean  thing,  reckon  upon 
deceiving  the  people  into  acquiescence  b}^  making  them 
believe  that  they  acted  in  obedience  to  heavenly  impulses, 
and  that  the  Lord  has  countenanced  their  treachery  and  cow- 
ardice? Which  is  it?  When  some  peojole  who  believed  in 
the  efficacy  of  prayer  withoat  work  applied  to  Palmerston 
to  appoint  a  fast,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  cholera,  or  to 
diminish  its  ravages,  the  premier  wrote  a  letter  which 
shocked  some  people,  and  pleased  a  good  many  others,  tell- 
ing them  that  they  had  better  go  home  and  attend  to  their 
ventilation  and  drainage,  and  keep  themselves  cool  and 
clean ;  and  I  have  never  heard  that  anj'body  supposes  the 
good  God  was  offended  at  this,  or  that  the  sickness  was 
needlessly  prolonged. 

Fonblanque,  of  "  The  London  Examiner,"  wrote  an  arti- 
cle on  "  General  Mournings,"  which  I  should  like  to  quote 
from  if  I  had  it  at  hand.  The  drift  of  it  was,  that  it  was 
cruel,  in  hard  times,  to  ask  the  people  to  give  up  one  whole 
day's  earnings  for  an}-  such  purpose  as  mourning  for  the 
dead.  And  the  advice  is  as  good  in  relation  to  a  general 
fast.  Fonblanque  suggested,  that,  if  we  must  lose  a  day  in 
this  way,  we  might  make  it  useful  by  following  the  old 
fashion,  iu  cases  of  grief,  of  rending  the  clothes.  That,  at 
any  rate,  would  help  the  tailors  and  cloth-makers.  It  would 
be  an  edifying  spectacle  to  see  Mr.  Buchanan  himself,  as  the 
representative  man  of  the  country,  who  has  done  more  than 
all  other  men  to  bring  it  into  disgrace  and  peril,  indicating 
his  contrition  and  his  need  of  forgiveness  by  knocking  a  hole 
in  the  crown  of  his  hat,  or  tearing  to  pieces  the  "  ampler 
parts  "  of  his  ample  satinet  trousers.  As  we  have  got  a 
thaw  upon  us,  there  would  be  no  great  harm  if  he  was  liter- 
ally (and  not  merely  metaphorically,  as  was  Wolsey)  left 
"  naked  to  his  enemies." 


« 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  253 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

IN  WAR  TIME. 

[""Warrington's"  Letters  in  Springfield  Eepublican,^  Jan.  17,  18G1.] 

THE    STATE    OF   THE    COUNTRY. 

Again  the  state  of  the  countiT !  But  there  is  excuse 
enough  for  writing  on  this  subject,  and  no  excuse  for  writing 
on  any  other.  Ever}'  man  ought  to  write  to  ever^'  other  man 
on  it ;  and  the  price  of  stationery  ought  to  be  increased  a 
hundred  per  cent  by  the  overwhehuing  demand.  I  have 
this  advantage,  through  your  kind  permission,  that  I  can 
speak  to  ^-our  twenty'  thousand  subscribers,  and  add  my 
voice  to  3-ours  in  favor  of  firmness  and  boldness  and  pru- 
dence and  courage  and  conciliation,  and  all  the  other  virtues, 
in  this  crisis.  How  many  skulking,  compromising  creatures 
there  are !  For  a  truce,  for  a  little  ease,  a  chance  to  live 
three  or  four  years  longer  in  peace,  men  are  willing  to  entail 
on  their  children  a  severer  struggle  than  this,  or,  on  their 
remotest  posterity,  all  the  evils  of  a  slaveholding  despotism. 
Men  will  "toil  and  moil,  poor  muck- worms !  "  cheat  in 
trade,  run  hazards  at  the  pole  or  in  the  tropics,  insure  their 
feeble  lives,  for  the  benefit  of  their  children  ;  but,  for  the  sake 
of  peace  for  a  day  or  two,  they  will  submit  to  the  most 
infamous  bargains  Avith  sin,  and  compromises  with  treason. 
Shame  on  tlicm  !  What  right  have  the}'  thus  to  make  pos- 
terit}"  suffer  for  their  cowardice  ? 

If  the  Southern  Whigs  had  stood  firm  against  the  Nebraska 

1  Unless  otherwise  designated. 


254  "  WARRINGTON: " 

Bill  in  1854,  we  should  have  been  spared  18G1 ;  if  Webster 
had  stood  firm,  against  the  compromises  of  1850,  we  should 
have  been  spared  the  Nebraska  Bill ;  if  the  men  of  1820  had 
insisted  on  the  slavery-  prohibition  in  Missouri's  case,  we 
should  have  been  spared  the  concessions  of  1850  ;  and,  to 
go  farther  back,  if  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  had 
carried  out  the  purposes  stipulated  in  the  preamble,  and 
made  such  provisions  as  would  insure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  all  men  in  the  country,  we  should  have  had  no  trouble  in 
1820.  And  if  we  are  true  now,  and  refuse  to  yield  to  the 
compromises  which  are  showered  upon  Congress  ever}*  day 
by  the  Crittendens,  Biglers,  Hunters,  Etheridges,  we  shall 
save  the  men  of  1870  a  more  grievous  struggle  than  this. 
"  The}'  enslave  their  children's  children  who  make  com- 
promise with  sin." 

"  Oh  for  an  hour  of  Webster  !  "  said  Mr.  Choate.  "  Oh 
for  an  hour  of  Choate  !  "  sa^-s  Lunt,  hoping,  I  suppose,  that, 
ten  years  hence,  some  snivelling  patriot  will  read  "  The 
Courier's  "  files,  and  exclaim,  "  Oh  for  an  hour  of  Lunt !  " 
I  sa};,  "  Oh  for  an  hour  of  government  of  some  sort,  no  matter 
what !  "  Gov.  Banks  told  us  in  his  valedictor}-  address  how 
cheaply  we  got  along.  I  think  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  pays  nine  dollars  in  taxes  for  national,  state,  and  local 
protection.  I  suppose  a  greater  part  of  this  goes  to  the 
support  of  the  General  Government ;  sa^-,  in  round  numbers, 
two  dollars  for  each  person.  An  average  famil}-,  like  3'ours 
or  mine,  pays  about  tweh-e  dollars.  And  what  do  we  get 
for  it?  I  suppose  we  should  be  glad  to  get  off  without  any 
real,  tangible  benefits  in  dollars  and  cents ;  but  we  have  at 
least  the  right  to  ask  that  the  government  we  help  to  sup- 
port shall  hold  itself  together,  and  not  allow  the  rebellious 
members  to  break  it  up.  If  it  can  do  nothing  else,  it 
ought  to  do  this  at  least.  But  what  do  we  see  ?  A  govern- 
ment absolutel}'  powerless,  the  laughing-stock  of  the  world, 
a  pauper  government,  an  idiot  government,  ne'er-do-well, 
feeble-minded,  non  compos,  worth}'  of  guardianship  b}'  the 
strongest  man.    Gen.  Scott  would  be  justified  by  the  country 


•! 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  255 

in  taking  care  of  it,  and  keeping  it  out  of  harm's  way  for 
a  season.  Suppose  crazy  George  III.  had  had  nobodj'  to 
take  care  of  him,  what  would  have  become  of  England? 
Oh  for  a  man  at  the  head  to  say  to  South  Carolina  what 
Menenius  Agrippa  said  to  the  turbulent  citizens  of  Rome  !  I 
refer  you  to  Coriolanus.  Menenius  Agrippa  was  haranguing 
the  people,  telling  them  the  stor}-  of  the  rebellion  of  the  mem- 
bers against  the  bell}'.     Said  he,  — 

"  The  senators  of  Eome  are  this  good  belly, 
Ami  you  the  mutinous  members:  for  examine 
Their  counsels  and  their  cares;  digest  things  rightly 
Touching  the  weal  o'  the  common ;  you  shall  find 
No  public  benefit  which  you  receive, 
But  it  proceeds  or  comes  from  them  to  you, 
And  no  way  from  yourselves.  — What  do  you  think?  — 
Tou,  the  great  toe  of  this  assembly." 

The  citizen  thus  addressed,  whose  name  we  may  suppose 
was  Pickens,  answers, — 

"  I  the  great  toe  ?    "Why  the  great  toe  ?  " 

And  Menenius  replies,  — 

"  For  that,  bebvj  one  o'  the  lowest,  basest,  poorest 
0/  this  most  wise  rebellion,  thou  go^  si  foremost: 
Thou  rascal,  that  art  worst  in  blood  to  run, 
Lead'st  first  to  win  some  vantage.  — 
But  make  you  ready  your  stiff  bats  and  clubs: 
Home  and  her  rats  are  at  the  point  of  battle ; 
The  one  side  must  have  bale." 

That  is,  injury  or  damage.  This  is  the  way  to  talk  to  this 
twopenny  rebellion.  Instead  of  this,  Mr.  Buchanan,  with 
gown  and  cap,  knitting-Avork  in  hand,  and  spectacles  on 
nose,  is  singing  to  the  country  the  old  nurser3'-rhyme,  — 

"  Little  Bo-peep  has  lost  his  sheep, 

And  don't  know  where  to  find  'em: 
Let  'em  alone,  and  they'll  come  home. 
Dragging  their  tails  behind  'em." 

This  is  a  question  of  pluck  and  endurance.     If  the  South 
are  determined  to  go  out,  they  will  go  in  spite  of  us :    if 


256  "WARRINGTON:" 

they  are  not  so  determined,  they  will  stay  on  our  own  terms. 
Let  our  friends  in  Congress  hold  still,  strengthening  the 
administration  if  it  is  disposed  to  do  right.  We  shall  in 
this  way  win 

"  The  victory  of  endurance  born." 

Our  members  of  Congress  who  stand  firm  deserve  the 
highest  commendation  ;  and  the  people  should  stand  by,  and 
encourage  them,  I  will  lift  m}^  hat  to  every  man  of  them 
who  comes  home  in  March,  having  seen  Abraham  Lincoln 
inaugurated  on  the  Capitol  steps,  and  the  people  not  betrayed 
by  wicked  compromises. 

[Jan.  24.] 
THE   DOUGHFACE  ^   PETITION. 

The  great  Doughface  petition  is  about  a  hundred  3'ards 
long,  is  a  foot  in  diameter  when  rolled  up,  and  contains 
about  fourteen  thousand  names.     Here  it  is  :  — 

"  "Wliile  sharing,  in  common  with  their  fellow-citizens,  the  general 
solicitude  at  the  dangers  whicli  are  now  threatening  the  peace  and 
»nity  of  the  country,  they  desire  to  give  their  urgent  and  emphatic 
expression  of  the  necessity  which  seems  to  exist  for  mutual  concilia- 
tion and  compromise,  and  without  discussion  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
various  questions  at  issue, 

"Therefore  your  memorialists  humbly  pray  ("umbly'  would  be 
better)  that  such  measures  may  be  speedily  adopted  by  Congress  for 
the  pacific  settlement  of  our  present  difficulties  as  will  embrace,  sub- 
stantially, 

"  Such  a  plan  of  compromise  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  to 
restore  tranquillity  and  peace  to  our  now  distracted  country," 

"  Mutual  concession  !  "  I  think  I  could  devise  a  plan  of 
mutual  concession  which  would  leave  us  as  well  off  as  we 
are  now.  I  should  demand  from  the  South,  first,  the  repeal 
of  the  Fugitive-slave  Law,  inhuman,  odious,  and  abomina- 
ble as  it  is ;  second,  the  relinquishment  of  the  dogma  that 
slavery  is  property  by  any  thing  but  local  law  ;  third,  ample 

1  The  Bourjhfaces  were  the  "soft  and  yielding  mass"  of  voters  who 
were  willing  to  accede  to  all  tho  demands  of  the  slaveholders. 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  257 

and  perpetual  guaranties  for  the  perpetuity  of  government 
against  rebellion,  everj-  time  the  elections  do  not  go  to  suit 
the  slaveholders  ;  fourth,  ample  and  perpetual  guaranties  for 
freedom  of  speech  and  travel  to  Northern  men  in  the  South  ; 
fifth,  the  reconstruction,  on  a  population  basis,  of  the  Supreme 
Court ;  and  so  on.  Ever}-  one  of  these  demands  is  just.  But 
do  the  men  ^\ho  have  gone  on  with  the  big  petition  dream, 
even,  of  demanding  any  one  of  them?  No.  They  do  not 
mean  to  ask  any  thing.  Thej'  go,  not  to  take,  but  to  give, 
and  to  give  all  that  the  other  side  ask.  You  could  not 
devise  a  plan  of  adjustment  -which  this  committee  would  not 
accept,  no  matter  how  degrading  to  the  North.  If  this  is 
an  honest  movement,  wh}-  are  not  the  Republicans  repre- 
sented in  the  petition?  Republican  paws  were  found  very 
useful  in  pulling  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire,  but  are  not 
clean  enough  to  take  hold  of  the  big  petition. 

You  see  they  don't  go  for  tranquillity  and  peace  at  any 
rate :  ihey  must  have  it  through  a  compromise  of  some 
sort.  If  Congress  can  contrive  to  preserve  peace  without 
conceding  any  thing  to  the  South,  that  would  not  do  at  all. 
"We  must  3'ield  something,  or  it's  no  use.  We  won't  have 
our  rights  if  we  can  get  them.  "We  love  to  be  rolled  in  the 
mud.  "We  prefer  to  eat  dirt.  Parodj-ing  Macbeth,  we  have 
in  dough 

"Stepped  in  so  far,  that,  should  we  wade  no  more, 
Returning  were  as  tedious  as  go  o'er." 

So  we  prefer  to  go  on.  "We  are  up  to  the  armpits  in  dough  : 
let  it  cover  us  to  the  eyes,  and  enclose  us  wholl3^  Let  us  be 
"  dough  soulsy"  as  "Webster  called  us  when  he  was  "Webster. 

Only  to  think  of  it !  —  the  great  Boston  petition  has  come 
to  nought.  The  mission  of  Everett  has  failed ;  Lawrence 
hasn't  saved  the  Union  ;  Woodbury  has  made  a  Judy  of  him- 
self ;  and  Tobey  is  not  to  be  considered  any  great  shakes 
hereafter.  And  why?  Simply  because  their  petition  didn't 
mean  any  thing.  Just  imagine  Mr.  Everett  administering  a 
bread-pill  to  the  invalid  Union  ;  and  Amos  Lawrence  carry- 


258  ''WARRINGTON':" 

ing  a  pint  of  cold  water  to  extinguish  the  great  conflagration, 
which  is  already  licking  the  pillars  of  the  grand  Temple  of 
Liberty !  Speed  home,  Mr.  Lawrence  ;  cut,  Mr.  Tobey  ;  lift 
your  brogans,  Mr.  Everett ;  mizzle,  Mr.  Woodbury ;  return 
to  Boston,  and  see  if  3'ou  cannot  do  better  next  time. 

"  Mutual  compromise,"  did  you  sa}-?  Perish  the  thought! 
Let  us  have  no  mutualism  !  Isn't  the  beaten  part}'  to  have 
every  thing,  and  the  victorious  part}'  nothing,  according  to 
the  usual  custom?  Hereafter,  when  two  men  ride  on  one 
horse,  the  one  who  rides  behind  shall  alwaj's  ride  before. 
Hereafter  the  defeated  party  shall  have  all  the  fruits  of  vic- 
tory, and  the  victors  shall  be  bound  hand  and  foot,  and 
exhibited  for  a  show,  like  Bajazet  in  his  cage. 


[April  IS.] 
THE    PURPOSE    OF    THE    WAR. 

Everybody  is  gratified,  and  many  are  astonished,  at  the 
superabundant  lo3'alt3'  of  the  people,  and  their  alacrity  to 
enter  upon  the  military  service.  With  less  than  a  da3-'s, 
and,  in  some  cases,  less  than  twelve  hours'  notice,  the 
companies  hastened  to  Boston  from  considerable  distances, 
with  full  ranks.  I  suppose  a  good  deal  of  this  willingness 
to  serve  is  due  to  the  fact  that  3'oung  men  like  noveltj-  and 
excitement,  and  that,  at  the  present  time,  business  is  dull, 
and  lucrative  emplo3-ment  hard  to  get ;  but  most  of  it  is  un- 
questionabl3^  due  to  a  deep  feeling  of  the  necessity  of  action 
and  sacrifice  for  the  salvation  of  the  couutr}-  and  its  free 
institutions. 

The  historian  must  sa3'  that  this  is  a  greater  cause  than 
that  of  '76.  The  American  Revolution  was  a  natural  and 
regular  progress  and  development  from  monarchical  and 
aristocratical  to  republican  and  democratic  institutions :  it 
might  have  broken  out  ten  years  earlier,  or  ten  3'ears  later, 
with  the  same  ultimate  result.  One  pretext  was  about  as 
good  as  another  for  the  outbreak  ;  and  it  was  accident  which 
determined  the  men  through  whom,  and  the  places  where,  it 


•  rEN-PORTRAITS.  259 

should  take  place.  But  nds  war  is  to  defeat  a  treasonable 
conspirac}'  (just  now  come  to  a  head),  which  aims  at  the 
destruction  of  republican  and  democratic  ideas,  not  to  re- 
store us  to  the  control  of  a  constitutional  monarch }-,  — that 
we  could  endure  tolerably'  well,  —  but  to  the  authority  of  a 
militar}',  slaveholding,  slavery-perpetuating  despotism. 

Failing,  by  the  aid  of  President,  Congress,  and  courts, 
which  they  have  had  in  almost  uninterrupted  succession  for 
the  last  twent}'  years,  to  swa}'  the  government  for  this  pur- 
pose ;  baffled  at  last,  in  18G0,  by  the  growth  of  the  free 
States,  and  the  increasing  intelligence  and  spirit  of  the 
masses,  native  and  foreign,  —  they  have  at  last  resolved  to 
break  up  the  government,  and  reconstruct  it,  if  possible,  on 
a  despotic  basis  ;  or,  failing  in  that,  to  separate,  and  main- 
tain a  slaveholding  confederacy  of  Uieir  own.  It  is  sicken- 
ing to  remember  the  successive  steps  of  this  treason,  and 
of  the  imbecility  in  the  late  administration,  by  which  it  was 
fostered,  and  made  formidable  and  dangerous,  up  to  the 
point  of  absolute  war.  All  descriptions  of  l3'ing,  from  per- 
jur}'  to  the  most  petty  impostures  and  trickeries  ;  all  kinds 
of  dishonesty,  from  o[)en  robbery  and  burglar}'  to  pettA*  lar- 
ceny and  counterfeiting  ;  all  kinds  of  meanness,  from  squat- 
ting in  congressional  chairs  which  did  not  Ijelong  to  them, 
to  writing  anon^-mous  letters,  and  slandering  defenceless 
women,  —  have  been  resorted  to  by  the  leaders  and  follow- 
ers in  this  most  wiclvcd  rebellion. 

One  good  result  of  this  rol)ellion  is  to  unmask  these 
women-whipping  "gentlemen,"  and  show  them  for  what 
the}'  arc.  How  can  a  man  claim  a  character  for  chivalry  and 
honor  who  lives  solely  by  stealing?  Slaver}-  is  one  long- 
continued  theft.  An  cmi)loyer  in  New  England  who  does 
not  pay  his  laborers  is  a  bankrupt  or  a  swindler,  or  both. 
Yet  the  whole  cotton,  rice,  sugar,  and  tobacco  crop  is  raised, 
and  not  a  mill  paid  for  it  in  wages.  Force  and  fraud  are  the 
foundation  of  the  system,  are  the  luhole  system,  —  force  to 
legalize  the  fraud.  Not  a  man  of  the  slaveholders  who  are 
now  engaged   in  breaking  up  the  government  ever  ate  an 


260  "WA-RPJNGTONr' 

honest  meal  of  victuals,  or  wore  an  honest  pair  of  boots,  or 
rode  a  mile  on  the  fruits  of  honestlj'-paitl  labor.  Of  course, 
there  is  difference  in  guilt.  All  slaveholders  have  not  added 
the  wickedness  of  treason  to  the  meanness  of  theft :  many 
would  gladly  be  rid  of  slavery,  and  have  the  privilege  of 
being  honest,  if  their  government  and  their  social  s3-stem 
did  not  forbid  them.  But  the  whole  framework  of  govern- 
ment and  society-  in  the  slave  States  is  built  and  cemented 
by  fraud  and  injustice,  and  must,  sooner  or  later,  fall. 

"We  have  never  held  that  it  is  our  especial  mission,  how- 
ever, to  put  it  down,  except  as  it  is  our  duty  to  discourage  all 
sorts  of  evil,  and  promote  the  spread  of  civilization  and  free 
institutions.  In  a  legitimate  way,  and  doing  what  we  could 
not  fail  to  do,  without  being  recreants  and  dastards,  we  have 
elected  a  President  who  is  against  the  spread  of  barbarism ; 
who  prefers  that  it  should  be  checked,  rather  than  encour- 
aged ;  whose  influence  is  to  be  given  in  favor  of  the  rights 
of  man,  and  against  the  pretended  rights  of  the  slave-owner  ; 
in  favor  of  honest  dealing,  and  against  theft,  peculation,  and 
a  wholesale  system  of  swindling  a  people  out  of  the  wages 
of  their  work.  For  this  offence  we  are  to  have  our  govern- 
ment broken  to  pieces  ;  for  this  crime  we  are  to  be  punished 
by  dismemberment  or  subjugation.  The  slaveholders  are  not 
only  the  aggressors,  but  the}'  have  made  war  upon  us  for  the 
most  outrageous  purpose  that  the  imagination  can  conceive, 
—  to  make  us  as  wicli;ed,  and  as  infamous  in  the  world's  e^-e 
and  in  the  pages  of  histor}',  as  themselves. 

"\Ye  can  afford  to  lose  fortresses  and  cities,  and  to  suffer 
a  lifelong  taxation,  and  groan  forever  under  a  national 
debt,  if  we  maintain  our  manhood  and  our  free  institutions. 
Indeed,  we  deserve  to  suffer  reverses  and  humiliations  for 
our  past  sins.  If  we  ma}'  expiate  our  national  cruelties 
towards  the  black  race  by  the  loss  of  Fort  Sumter,  we  may 
be  grateful  that  Providence  has  dealt  no  worse  with  us. 
But  we  must  not  lose  every  thing.  Especially  we  of  New 
England  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  States  which  sprung 
from  New  England  and  Massachusetts,  must  remember  our 
history,  and  stand  b}'  our  free  constitutions. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  261 

"  We  are  a  people  j'et, 
Though  all  men  else  their  nobler  dreams  forget, 
Confused  by  brainless  mobs  and  lawless  powers : 
Thank  Him  who  placed  us  here,  and  roughly  set 
His  Saxon  in  blown  seas  and  storming  showers, 
We  have  a  voice  with  which  to  pay  the  debt 
Of  boundless  love  and  reverence  and  regret 
To  those  great  men  who  fought,  and  kept  it  ours." 

The  poor,  despised  ne^o,  "who  cannot  even  be  admitted 
into  the  military  service  to  fight  for  himself,  finds  scA'cnt}-- 
five  thousand  white  men  called  out  really  to  vindicate  his 
rights,  and  seventy-five  thousand  more  will  be  called  out  if 
need  be.  It  matters  not  that  the  ostensible  and  real  pur- 
pose is  to  uphold  government ;  or  that,  possibl}-,  the  negro 
will  find  himself  no  better  off  at  the  end  of  the  war  than  he 
is  now  :  he  is  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  for  him  it  is  in  reality 
waged. 

[April  2d.] 
THE    SPIRIT    OF   THE    PEOPLE. 

The  city  never  looked  so  beautiful  as  it  does  to-day. 
Every  street  and  nearl}-  ever}'  building  has  its  flag.  AVash- 
ington,  State,  and  Broad  Streets  are  peculiarly  rich  in  the 
patriotic  emblem.  Innumerable  little  flags  are  seen  in  ever}- 
direction  ;  and  scared}'  a  horse  or  a  wagon,  or  an  apple- 
stand,  or  a  lobster-barrow,  is  seen  without  its  signal.  And 
this  no  more  than  indicates  the  enthusiasm  for  the  country 
and  its  cause,  which  is  universal.  If  there  are  any  dissent- 
ers and  growlers,  they  have  sense  enough  to  keep  silent. 
A  few  of  them  got  caught,  not  reading  prophetically  the 
signs  of  the  times,  like  Mr.  AV.  J.  of  Medford,  who,  having 
compelled  his  workmen  to  take  down  a  flag  which  they  had 
hoisted,  was  obliged  by  the  people  to  hoist  it  again  ivith  his 
own  hands;  but  such  instances  are  very  scarce,  and  com- 
prise only  the  most  inveterate  malignants.  There  is  a  spirit 
of  toleration  among  the  political  friends  of  the  administra- 
tion, which  matches  well  with  the  patriotic  off'ers  of  men  and 
money  from  the  other  side.     I  dare  say  there  are  heart-burn- 


262  "WARRINGTON:" 

ings  enough  in  secret  on  both  sides,  but  little,  if  any,  outward 
manifestations.  Everj'  thing  is  swamped  and  submerged  in 
the  tide  of  patriotic  feeling.  The  common  people  —  the 
masses,  the  bone  and  sinew  —  are  the  first  and  foremost ; 
and,  if  any  distinction  can  be  made  among  classes  in  a 
country  where  all  men  are  workers,  the  merchants  and  capi- 
talists deserve  as  high  distinction  as  an3-body  else.  The 
politicians  are  probably  behind  the  rest,  it  being  harder  for 
them  than  for  others  to  subordinate  their  party  feelings. 
The  newspapers  which  appear  da}'  by  day  contain  the  proud- 
est chapters  ever  written  of  the  historj'  of  Massachusetts. 
Now  is  the  time  for  the  historian  and  the  annalist  to  gather 
his  materials  for  his  account  of  the  glorious  part  the  Bay 
State  is  taking  in  this  second  and  most  important  war  of 
independence.  Every  two-line  item  is  pi'ccious,  and  should 
be  gathered  up  and  saved,  as  evidence  that  the  old  Puritan 
and  Revolutionary  blood  has  not  only  not  died  out,  but  is  as 
fresh  and  vigorous  and  indomitable  as  ever. 

It  is  a  privilege  to  live  in  such  times.  The  elevation  of 
feeling  in  the  people  is  enough  to  compensate  for  all  the 
hardships  and  losses  of  the  war,  if  it  lasts  as  long  as  that  of 
the  first  Revolution.  What  if  men  do  fail !  Thc}^  won't 
starve  (there  is  no  danger  of  that)  ;  and  b}^  and  by  good 
times  will  come  again :  and,  if  hopes  of  leaving  a  large 
property  to  children  are  dashed  away,  this  is  no  more  than 
happens,  to  a  considerable  degree,  in  ordinary  times  ;  and 
now  this  loss  will  be  more  than  compensated  b}'  the  satis- 
faction of  having  borne  some  part  in  this  glorious  second 
war  for  independence.  "  We  live  in  deeds,  not_years,"  saj-s 
Festus,  Ralph  Farnham's  hours  on  Bunker  Hill  were  worth 
all  the  rest  of  his  life,  unless  he  was  more  fortunate  in  his 
opportunity^  to  do  good  than  the  majority'  of  men. 

This  is  the  onl^'  chance  we  have  had  to  do  any  thing  his- 
torical and  telling  for  the  country  ;  and  let  us  improve  it. 
We  have  all  done  our  duty,  as  we  understand  it,  to  our 
families,  our  neighbors,  our  party,  civilization,  education, 
religion,  humanity,  the  intemperate,  the  slave,  the  victim  of 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  263 

sin  or  of  society's  inequalities  or  injustice ;  and  perhaps, 
in  the  serener  judgment  of  the  Almighty,  these  services  are 
as  worthy  as  any  other.  But  now  seems  a  greater  occasion, 
because  our  very  existence  as  a  free  people,  the  fate  of  civ- 
ilization itself,  for  a  time  at  least,  hangs  upon  the  issue 
of  a  campaign,  longer  or  shorter,  as  it  ma}'  be.  "We  have 
bragged  and  blustered,  and  fired  cannons  and  burned  fire- 
works for  Bunker  Hill,  and  Saratoga,  and  the  Fourth  of 
Jul}'.  The  question  now  is,  whether  these  places  and  daj's 
shall  be  wiped  out,  and  we  go  back,  —  not  to  British  rule,  not 
to  colonial  and  provincial  times,  but  to  the  rule  of  t3'rants 
and  oligarchs,  who,  instead  of  ruling  us,  ought  to  be  subju- 
gated at  once  and  forever.  If  we  succumb,  or  consent  to 
compromise,  or  j'ield  again  to  them,  we  shall  deserve  the 
contempt  of  the  world,  and  shall  have  it ;  for  we  shall  only 
postpone  the  contest,  to  be  settled  b}^  our  children  or  grand- 
children. We  should  not  be  content  even  with  peace,  unless 
it  is  accompanied  b}'  the  establishment  of  a  polic}',  which,  to 
say  the  ver}'  least,  shall  discourage  slavery,  and  encourage 
emancipation.  We  must  no  longer  submit  to  the  equalit}^ 
of  slavery  in  our  national  councils.  We  must  cage  it,  and 
starve  it  out,  if  we  do  not  kill  it  at  once.  Never  let  it  rule 
us  again,  or  even  presume  to  be  on  equal  terms  with  liberty. 
We  shall  have  no  freedom,  no  peace,  no  commerce,  no 
national  life,  which  is  exempt  from  panic  and  peril,  so  long 
as  slaver}'  dominates  over  us.  We  have  risen  against  it. 
This  is  really  a  rebellion  of  ours  against  slavery,  rather  than 
a  rebellion  of  slaveholders  against  freedom  ;  and  it  is  evi- 
dent enough  that  it  is  completel}'  in  our  power,  perhaps  not 
for  extinction  in  a  da}'  or  a  year,  but  for  speedy  and  sure 
extinction. 

If  ever  there  was  a  holy  war,  this  is  the  one.  Franklin 
is  reported  to  have  said,  that  there  never  was  a  good  war 
or  a  bad  peace.  He  was  mistaken.  This  is  emphatically  a 
good  war ;  a  war  for  liberty  against  slavery ;  for  order 
against  anarchy ;  for  civilization  against  barbarism ;  for 
national  life  against  atrophy  and  national  extinction. 


264  "WARRINGTON:" 

"  Oh,  a  good  cause  stands  firm,  and  will  abide! 
Legions  of  angels  fight  upon  its  side." 

The  nation  is  whole.     We  have  got  to  have  a  war  for  its 
integrity ;  but  we  shall  not  have  Mexico,   street-fights,  con-         p 
version  of  stocks  into  cash,  and  flight  of  capitalists,  or  the  "^ 

man  on  horseback,  as  predicted  by  Caleb  Gushing  in  his 
Bangor  letter,  and  by  Shelley  before  him  in  his  "  Masque 
of  Anarchy: "  — 

"  Last  came  Anarchy:  he jode 
On  a  white  horse  splashed  with  blood: 
He  was  pale  even  to  the  lips, 
Like  Death  in  the  Apocalypse ; 
And  he  wore  a  kingly  crown ; 
In  his  hand  a  sceptre  shone; 
On  his  brow  this  mark  I  saw,  — 
*  I  am  God,  and  King,  and  Law  1  * 
With  a  pace  stately  and  fast 
Over  English  land  he  passed, 
Trampling  to  a  mire  of  blood 
The  adoring  multitude ; 
And  a  mighty  troop  around 
With  their  trampling  shook  the  ground, 
Waving  each  a  bloody  sword 
For  the  service  of  their  Lord." 

No,  no,  Mr.  Caleb  Cushing :  we  are  not  going  to  allow  the 
"man   on  horseback"    to   desolate   New  England,   or  any         ', 
other  part  of  the  loyal  States.^  > 

1  Everybody  remembers  the  Hon.  Caleb  Cushing's  famous  Bangor 
letter,  written  in  January,  18G0,  in  which  the  writer  predicted,  that  if 
the  Kepublicans  should  elect  a  speaker  of  the  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  if  Connecticut  and  New  Hampshire  should,  at  the  then 
approaching  elections,  sustain  the  Piepublican  policy,  there  would  be 
a  general  smash,  —  "social  convulsions,  hostile  combats  in  the  town 
streets,  iiredatory  guerilla  bands  roving  up  and  down  the  coimtry, 
shootings  and  hangings,"  and,  to  wind  up,  "  cruel  war,  —  war  at  home, 
and,  in  the  perspective  distance,  a  man  on  horseback,  with  a  drawn 
sword  in  his  hand,  some  Atlantic  Ciesar,  or  Cromwell,  or  Napoleon," 
&c.  We  have  always  thought,  particularly  since  the  present  rebellion 
broke  out,  that  Mr.  Cushing  must  have  had  a  more  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  purposes  of  the  Southern  traitors  than  he  saw  fit  to  divulge. 
But  let  that  pass:  his  prediction  is  much  above  the  average  of  those 
made  by  the  professed  wizards,  astrologers,  and  spiritual  mediums.  — 
Warringtox,  in  New -York  Tribune,  18G1. 


PEN-POBTRAITS.  265 

[Juue  10.] 
THE   NEGRO   READY   TO    FIGHT   FOR   FREEDOM. 

Men  talk  as  if  the  four  million  slaves  of  the  South,  con- 
stituting the  laboring  population,  the  bone  and  sinew,  the 
working-men,  the  true  wealth  of  that  region,  were  worse 
than  cannibals.  Where  in  history  is  there  an  instance  of  so 
many  people  bearing  so  many  protracted  years  of  slavery  so 
quietl}^  and  patientlj'?  "  The  most  silent,  the  most  eloquent 
of  men,"  says  Carlj-le,  "  is  the  English  laborer,  falling  down 
upon  the  bosom  of  his  old  mother,  and  d^ing  for  want  of 
work  and  bread."  But  do  not  the  "  poor  dumb  mouths  "  of 
four  million  patient  bondmen  plead  as  eloquently  for  immu- 
nit}'  from  abuse  and  scandal,  as  well  as  for  justice  and  free- 
dom? Is  it  not  enough  that  we  have,  for  years  going  on  to 
centuries,  kept  those  men  in  chains,  making  the  life  of  each 
man,  woman,  and  child,  one  long  agony  from  j'ear  to  year, 
but  w'e  must  proceed  to  call  them  barbarians  and  savages, 
and  compare  them  with  the  wild  Indian,  or  the  Hottentot  in 
his  native  jungle?  For  shame!  The  horrors  of  a  single 
day's  assault  upon  the  white  Northern-born  inhabitants  of 
the  South  exceed  those  which  have  ever  taken  place  in  the 
country-.  See  the  villains  taking  free  colored  men  from  the 
"  Star  of  the  West,"  and  selling  them  into  eternal  slaver^' ! 
See  them  imprisoning  scores  of  Maine  lumbermen  in  Rich- 
mond jails  !  See  them  hanging  and  mobbing  peaceable  and 
loyal  people  of  their  own  cities  and  towns  because  thej*  will 
not  be  traitors  like  themselves  ! 

The  white  man  says  to  the  colored  brother,  "  Stand  aside ; 
keep  shady :  if  3-ou  appear  in  plain  sight,  you'll  frighten 
somebod}'.  Your  skin  is  black  ;  your  nose  is  flat ;  your  lips 
are  thick,  yonx  heels  long.  Wc  are  making  excellent  use  of 
a  lot  of  old  fog3'  Whigs  and  old  hunker  Democrats  just  now, 
putting  down  this  rebellion  by  the  money  of  the  former,  and 
the  stout  right  arms  of  the  latter.  These  people  never  saw 
you ;  the}'  don't  know  ^'ou ;  they  have  a  prejudice  against 
you :  if  you  come  out  of  the  fence,  j-ou'll  spoil  eVery  thing. 


266  "  WARRINGTON: " 

Keep  quiet,  and  let  the  Democrats  fight  for  3-ou,  and  the  Bell- 
Everetts  spend  mone}'  for  3'ou,  and  bj'  and  by  j-ou'll  get  all 
you  want."  Well,  there  was  something  in  this,  but  not 
much.  I  don't  think  the  negro  need  to  be  discouraged  at 
any  action  the  legislature  has  jet  taken.  B3'  and  by,  when 
the  fight  becomes  thick,  this  nonsense  will  be  knocked  out 
of  the  Democrats  and  Bell-Everetts,  and  also  out  of  the 
Republicans,  who  yield  to  it  rather  than  believe  in  it.  After 
the  white  man  has  fought  till  he  has  got  tired  of  it,  and 
has  made  a  peace  of  some  sort  or  other,  the  negro  will  take 
his  turn.  The  slaveholder  will  be  beaten  and  disgraced, 
or  victorious,  and  more  insolent  than  ever  :  I  am  quite  sure 
the  first  thing  is  to  happen.  But,  either  way,  then  will  come 
the  black  man's  opportunity.  If  his  tjTant  is  humbled,  he 
will  be  an  easj'  pre}' ;  if  triumphant,  the  hopeless  bondman 
will  rise  in  his  despair,  and  rush  upon  his  oppressor.  Then, 
also,  will  come  the  time  for  leaders  who  shall  mean  some- 
thing. Our  generals  and  colonels  evidentl}'  don't  3'et  know 
what  the}'  are  fighting  for :  they  are  drifting  along,  the  prey 
of  circumstance. 

After  the  war  is  over,  unless  John  Quincy  Adams's  advice 
is  followed  by  government,  and  slavery  is  declared  abolished, 
the  John  Brown  men  will  make  their  appearance.  They  will 
be  readily  recruited  b}'  energetic  leaders,  and  speedily  and 
easil}'  armed.  AVe  shall  have  guerilla  leaders  and  followers 
inspired  b}'  the  spirit  of  Cromwell,  mixed,  perhaps  a  little, 
with  that  of  the  buccaneer.  They  will  pray,  however, 
rather  than  prey.  The}-  will  fight  like  the  Ironsides  at 
Marston  Moor.  "We  never  charged,  but  we  routed  the 
enemy,"  said  Cromwell,  describing  this  battle  :  "  God  made 
them  as  stubble  to  our  swords.  We  charged  their  regiments 
of  foot  with  our  horse,  and  routed  all  we  charged.  Give 
glory,  all  the  glory,  to  God."  Or  at  Dunbar,  where,  says  one 
annalist,  "  I  heard  Xol  say  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
'  Let  God  arise,  let  his  enemies  be  scattered  ; '  "  and,  when 
the  chase  was  suspended  for  a  moment,  the  enemy  sang  the 
117th  Psalm  at  the  foot  of  Doon  Hill :  — 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  267 

"  Oh !  give  ye  praise  unto  the  Lord, 
All  nati-ons  that  be; 
Likewise  ye  people  all,  accord 
His  name  to  magnify." 

This  is  only  a  new  phase  of  war.  Read  the  stoiy  of  the 
negroes  fleeing  from  the  town  to  the  ships  with  their  bundles 
in  hand.  The}'  were  fleeing  from  the  men  who  had  made 
immemorial  war  upon  their  race,  and  seeking  protection  in 
the  rescuing  force.  What  a  tale  of  lifelong  oppression  does 
this  reveal  to  us !  No  usage,  no  custom,  no  tradition,  no 
persecution  for  generations  and  centuries,  no  S3-stematic 
imbrutement,  no  cordon  or  quarantine  to  keep  out  light  and 
air  and  liberty  from  this  dense,  thick,  black,  tangled  slave- 
desert,  has  been  able  to  suppress,  or  apparently  to  make 
dim,  the  divine  instinct  in  the  slave's  soul,  that  he  has  a  right 
to  be  free,  and  that,  as  he  has  supported  his  white  master,  he 
can  equally  well  support  himself.  He  has  recognized  a  state 
of  war  all  along  :  subjugation  and  coercion  have  been  familiar 
ideas,  if  not  words,  to  him.  How  eagerlj-  he  embraces  the 
fii'st  opportunit}-  to  emancipate  himself ! 


[July  2o.] 

BULL    RUN. 

This  war  has  been  ver}-  much  simplified  by  the  repulse  at 
Manassas.  The  "Countr}*  Parson  "  has  an  essaj'  on  "  Things 
Slowly  Learnt,"  I  don't  remember  just  now  what  these 
particular  things  are ;  but  we  are  not  obliged  to  resort  to  his 
essay  for  examples.  Let  us  take  the  law  of  gravitation. 
Some  men  learn  it  much  sooner  than  others  ;  but  I  don't  tliink 
the  aptest  scholar  among  us  mastered  it  under  the  age  of  ten. 
M}'  two-year-old  takes  lessons  in  it  every  day,  and,  though 
he  improves  ver}'  fast,  has  not  gut  tlie  liang  of  it  coinpletel}'. 
Occasionally  you  see  a  man  who  did  not  complete  his  educa- 
tion in  this  branch  until  he  broke  his  arm  b}-  a  fall  from  an 
apple-tree.  Others  took  eas}'  lessons  in  the  shape  of  barked 
shins    and   "  black-and-blue   spots."      The    United   States 


268  "  WARRINGTON: " 

barked  its  shins  at  Fort  Sumter,  and  has  now  got  an  ugly  fall 
at  Manassas.  Its  arm  is  in  a  sling,  and  will  be  for  some 
weeks.  But  it  has  at  last  mastered  the  law  of  gravitation. 
This  law  does  not  tell  us  we  must  never  climb  apple-trees,  or 
proceed  faster  than  a  walk,  but  only  that  we  must  make  proper 
preparations  for  our  exploits  and  expeditions,  and  use  proper 
means  to  carrj-  them  out.  And  the  first  thing  to  be  done  in 
this  war  was  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the  contest  and  of 
our  enemy,  and  our  own  resources.  They  used  in  Concord 
to  tell  a  story  of  "Johnny  Burr,"  who,  having  on  hand  a 
foot-expedition  to  the  town  of  Ashb}'  (some  thirty  miles 
distant),  took  a  walk  round  the  "five-mile  square,  just  to 
get  his  legs  limbered."  This  seemed  at  one  time  very 
ridiculous  to  me  ;  but  it  was  certainl}'  better  for  Johnny  Burr 
to  give  out,  if  he  must  give  out,  at  the  place  where  he  began 
his  journe}-,  —  viz.,  on  the  village  common,  —  rather  than  five 
miles  distant,  on  the  road  to  Ashby. 

All  this  is  "writ"  philosophical  (so  to  speak)  and  illus- 
trative. Let  us  now  proceed  to  say  in  plain  terms,  that,  by 
the  Manassas  defeat,  we  have  learned  that  there  is  only  one 
plain  and  simple  issue  in  this  war ;  and  that  is,  Shall  the 
stockholders  rule  this  country,  or  shall  we  tule  it  ?  It  is  not 
even  a  question  whether  we  shall  rule  it  jointly  ;  whether  we 
shall  make  two,  three,  or  a  dozen  confederacies,  and  so  tr}'  to 
live  in  peace  with  each  other  ;  or  whether  we  shall  patch  up  a 
truce  on  exchange  of  prisoners  and  of  places,  and  tr}-  to  go  on 
peaceably.  All  this  nonsense  has  been  cleared  away  b3'  the 
Manassas  fight.  We  are  in  for  it,  as  Paul  Jones  was  when 
he  fought  "  The  Serapis  "  with  "  The  Good  Man  Richard  ; " 
and  we  must  say  as  he  did,  when  asked  if  he  had  surrendered, 
—  "  Surrendered?  We  have  just  begun  to  fight !  "  Slavery 
must  die  in  this  contest,  or  freedom  and  free  institutions 
must  die.  The  two  elements  cannot  live  together,  in  union 
or  out  of  union,  on  the  same  continent.  If  there  is  a  peace, 
it  is  treacherous  ;  if  there  is  a  compromise,  it  is  a  trick  to 
gain  time  ;  if  there  is  a  division  of  territory,  and  two  or 
more  governments,  there  will  be  endless  civil  wars,  and 
finally  the  great  battle  over  again  at  last. 


PEN-rOBTRAITS.  269 

Gen.  Scott's  answ^er  to  some  one  who  spoke  of  defeat  is 
splendid,  —  "Who  is  defeated?  The  government  is  not 
defeated:  /  am  not  defeated."  True,  noble  old  soldier; 
and  you  and  the  government  are  not  going  to  be  defeated. 
I  hope  we  shall  not  pa}'  heed  to  frightened  members  of 
Congress,  or  panic-struck  volunteers,  in  the  matter. 

The  secession  organ  in  New  York  says  that  the  exact 
terms  which  the  South  would  have  dictated,  if  it  had  been 
fortunate  enough  to  get  possession  of  the  capital,  would  have 
been  these  ;  viz.,  that  "  no  man  holding  the  theories  of  Abe 
Lincoln  and  his  followers  shall  be  permitted  to  hold  office. 
We  cannot  permit  you  and  Seward  and  Chase  to  seize  the 
government  created  b}'  slaveholders,  and  to  wield  it  as  an 
instrument  for  degrading  j-ourselves  and  yonv  posterity'  b}- 
impartial  freedom  with  Sambo :  and  therefore,  unless  you 
solemnly  pledge  3-ourselves  to  stand  b}'  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and,  furthermore,  incorporate  that  decision  in 
the  Federal  Constitution,  and  thus  forever  prohibit  the  exist- 
ence of  such  a  party  as  yours,  we  will  turn  you  out  of  the 
Union  ;  drive  yon  into  Canada  ;  at  all  events,  get  rid  of  you." 
It  continues  by  predicting  that  the  dictation  will  fmall}^  over- 
take us,  and  tliat  some  day  "  the  Constitution  will  sa}'  in 
distinct  terms  that  this  is  a  government  of  white  men,  and 
no  antislavery  man  shall  be  permitted  to  hold  office  under  it." 
As  Carlyle  said,  when  he  read  the  account  of  the  speaker  of 
the  Arkansas  senate  descending  from  his  seat,  and  stabbing 
a  member  to  the  heart  with  his  bowie-knife,  "I  like  this, 
it  is  so  candid  !"  But  the  Manassas  fight  is  more  candid  and 
more  impressive,  and  teaches  in  cannon-shot  precisely  the 
same  doctrine  this  secession  whelp  teaches  with  his  pen. 

[Sept.  5.] 

Fremont's  immortal  procl amotion. 

The  President's    letter   to   Gen.    Fremont    makes    much 

comment.     Popular  opinion,  as  far  as  the  proclamation  is 

concerned,   is    almost  unanimousl}-   in    favor   of    Fremont. 


270 


"WAEEINGTON:" 


Nothing  that  has  occurred  since  Major  Anderson  returned 
the  fire  directed  against  Fort  Sumter,  and  so  brolve  the  dis- 
graceful silence  which  the  country  had  maintained  for  more 
than  four  months  while  the  rebellion  was  in  active  progress, 
—  nothing  since  that  time  had  so  stirred  the  pulses  of  all 
true  men,  and  made  all  loyal  hearts  leap  with  joy  and  gratu- 
lation,  as  the  proclamation  of  freedom  to  the  slaves  of  the 
Missouri  rebels. 

Fremont  is  dismissed.^  I  do  not  believe  that  his  dis- 
missal meets  with  general  approbation.  I  believe  that  he 
has  been  pursued  by  the.arm3--offlcers,  by  certain  members  of 
the  cabinet,  and  hy  the  border-State  men,  in  a  manner  wholly 
unjustifiable,  while  his  antislaverj-  proclamation  excited  the 
ire  of  all  proslaver}-  men  throughout  the  country.  The 
Democratic  part}'  were,  of  course,  prepared  to  believe  any 
thing  evil  of  him.  These  elements  were  enough  to  upset 
him.  That  the  abuses  and  corruptions  of  his  administration 
were  greater  than  those  which  have  characterized  other 
departments  I  do  not  believe.  When  the  investigating 
committees  get  through  their  work,  they  will  make  up  a 
record  of  swindling  and  extravagant  expenditures  every- 
where which  will  appall  the  countr}'.  But  it  is  of  no  use  to 
complain.  Fremont  and  his  friends  must  bide  their  time  ;  and 
there  is  no  danger  of  any  man's  getting  injustice  in  the  long- 

1  Tlie  reasons  for  Gen.  Frdmont's  disobej'ing  the  President's  orders 
as  to  the  route  across  the  mountains  in  pursuit  of  the  rebel  Gen.  Jack- 
son were,  "When  Gen.  Frt^'mont  took  tlie  responsibility  of  disobeying 
the  President's  orders  as  to  the  route  by  which  he  should  cross  the 
mountains  in  pursuit  of  Jackson,  the  President  was  disi^leased,  as  was 
natural  and  projjer;  but,  when  Zagonyi  explained  the  reascms,  he  was 
satislied  on  the  main  point.  'But,'  said  he  to  Zagonyi,  'Gen.  Fremont 
ought  to  have  informed  me  of  his  plans,  and  of  the  reasons  why  he 
could  not  obey  my  orders.'  —  'Mr.  President,'  said  Zagonj-i,  'lam 
instructed  by  Gen.  Fremont  to  say  that  he  could  not  spare  any  of  his 
officers,  nor  trust  the  telegraph;  and,  furthermore,  to  say  that  all  the 
intelligence  of  his  movements  which  has  been  placed  in  the  office  of 
the  Adjutant-General  has  reached  the  enemy  soon  afterwards.'  " 
Gov.  Andrew  tells  this  story.  He  had  it  from  Mrs.  Frc^mont.  I  was 
going  to  print  it,  but  thought  best  not  to  do  so.  —  Extract  from  Diary  of 
1865. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  271 

run.  The  judgment  of  the  people  is  pretty  nearly  infallible, 
after  a  while.  Fremont  is  the  onl}'  man  who  has  said  the 
words,  "  free  men  ;  "  and  for  this  Fremont  has  been  removed. 
If  Fremont  has  been  gnilty  of  mistakes,  or  even  of  crimes, 
there  are  a  million  of  men  now  living  who  will  forgive  him, 
in  consideration  of  his  proclamation  and  his  deed  of  manu- 
mission,—  documents  which  will  be  as  immortal  as  the 
Declaration  of  Independence. 


[Kov.  14.] 
LANDING  AT  BEAUFORT. — PROGRESS  OF  THE  WAR. 

I  have  discovered  a  coincidence  ;  viz.,  that  the  landing  at 
Beaufort  was  effected  just  exactly  one  year  after  South  Caro- 
lina broke  out  in  rebellion  against  the  government.  Lincoln 
was  elected  on  the  Gth  of  November,  18G0  ;  and  the  very 
next  day,  the  7th,  Palmettodom  began  to  make  preparations 
to  secede.  Now,  on  the  7th  of  November,  1861,  two  rebel 
forts  in  Port  Royal  harbor  are  silenced  and  captured,  a  rebel 
army  is  compelled  to  take  to  its  heels,  a  rebel  town  or  city 
is  depopulated,  and  the  peculiar  institution,  in  its  density 
and  invincibility  (so  considered),  is  uprooted,  turned  topsy- 
turvy and  inside  out,  and  demands  total  re-organization 
in  order  to  save  Southern  society  itself  from  anarch}'  and 
destruction.  Verily,  this  has  been  an  eventful  and  glorious 
3'ear ;  and  I,  who  have  been  complaining  and  scolding  at  the 
government  for  inactivity,  should  feel  ashamed  of  m3self, 
did  I  not  think  that  complaint  and  uneasiness  and  criticism 
on  the  part  of  the  press  and  the  people  had  been  useful  in 
bringing  the  administration  up  to  its  present  position. 
Events,  however,  have  done  a  thousand  times  more.  Mr. 
Cameron  said,  the  other  night,  that  he  liked  the  phrase 
"logic  of  events;"  and  press  and  people  have  hurried 
events. 

Now  the  people  are  happy.  The  war  has  actually  begun. 
Hurrah !  the  ranks  are  closing !  Up  to  Nov.  7,  we  have 
been  on  the  defensive.      The    Army  of  the  Potomac  has 


272  "WARRINGTON:" 

been  defending  "Washington ;  and,  though  it  once  moved 
towards  Richmond,  it  might  plausibly  maintain  that  Rich- 
mond was  the  place  to  defend  Washington.  Rosecrans  has 
been  defending  the  State  of  "West  "Virginia,  or  Kanawha,  a 
loyal  branch  of  the  Union.  Maryland,  Kentucky-,  and  Mis- 
souri have  had  to  be  protected  against  Virginia,  Tennessee, 
Arkansas,  and  Texas ;  and  if  the  fleet  had  assailed  Fort 
Sumter,  or  tried  to  retake  Pensacola  navy-yard,  its  move- 
ments would  have  been  in  conformity  with  the  determination 
announced  in  President  Lincoln's  inaugural,  —  that  the  gov- 
ei'nment  would  repossess  itself  of  its  stolen  forts.  But 
Beaufort  has  no  stolen  forts  to  repossess.  Beaufort  is  new 
ground.  It  is  struck  at  because  it  is  the  most  favorable 
spot  for  offensive  Southern  operations.  It  is  the  heart  of 
Slavedom  which  is  now  assailed.  Honor  to  the  men  who 
planned  and  executed  the  movement !  "We  begin  the  second 
j-ear  gloriously.  The  tired  feeling  which  has  oppressed  the 
people  for  the  long  months  since  Bull  Run  is  lifted  off. 
Ball's  Bluff  and  Big  Bethel  and  Belmont  are  atoned  for  and 
forgotten,  so  far  as  they  can  be,  in  the  general  joy.  The 
bulletins  and  newspapers  are  cheerful ;  and  the  eyes  which 
read  them  sparkle  with  gratulation :  every  letter  is  pictorial 
and  ornamental ;  and  the  newsboys  are  full  of  music  as  they 
cry  out,  "  Victory,  victory  ! " 

[Nov.  30.] 

MASON   AND    SLIDELL   AT   FORT   "WARKEN. 

If  an3-body  is  to  suffer  hardship  and  indignity,  it  should  be 
such  men  as  Slidell  and  Mason,  two  of  the  greatest  scoundrels 
in  all  Rebeldom.  Mason  was  here  some  years  ago,  and,  under 
the  patronage  of  Boston  hunkers,  gave  us  an  exhibition  of 
plantation  manners  on  Bunker  Hill.  People  looked  upon  his 
burlj'  and  lazj-  person  with  awe.  Here  was  a  man  who  had 
power  over  other  men ;  who  had  snubbed  his  equals,  kicked 
his  inferiors,  and  flogged  his  slaves,  —  a  great  man.  He  came 
to  remind  us  of  our  constitutional  obligations ;   to  tell  us 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  273 

that  we  must  let  him  snub,  kick,  and  flog  ad  libitum^  he  and 
his  fellows  of  the  F.  F.  V.,  he  and  his  children  and  grand- 
children, and  so  on  to  the  remotest  generations.  He  came 
to  tell  us  to  mind  our  own  business,  and  to  be  thankful  that 
his  parental  rule  was  not  also  extended  over  us ;  that  the 
beneficent  whip  was  not  brandished  on  the  New-England 
hillsides  (as  it  ought  to  be)  over  both  blacks  and  whites.  He 
didn't  sa}'  all  this  ;  but  he  meant  it.  It  spoke  in  his  eye  and 
gesture,  and  in  ever}'  movement  of  his  burl}',  laz}'  person. 
People  looked  on  with  admiration.  Boston  conservatism 
said,  "  It  is  good  to  be  here.  It  reminds  us  of  feudalism: 
it  is  a  touch  of  mediaevalism  :  it  is  a  rebuke  to  the  rampant 
spirit  of  democracy'  and  equal  rights.  All  hail  the  great 
Mason !  ' ' 

Slidell  is  even  a  shabbier  rogue  than  Mason.  He  is  more 
of  the  Flo3'd  style.  He  plays  a  greater  round  of  characters, 
and  is  a  thief  and  an  election-swindler,  as  well  as  a  ty- 
rant and  aristocrat  {oide  the  Houmas  land-grant  and  the 
Plaquemine  frauds) .  But  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
Mason  feels  above  Slidell.  He  may  not  be,  in  practice i  so 
notorious  a  thief  and  swindler ;  but  he  has  the  elements  in 
him.  It  is  a  matter  of  temperament  and  habit  merel}- ;  for 
you  may  be  sure  that  the  man  who  lives  voluntarily  and 
persistently,  and  without  compunctions,  on  the  unpaid  earn- 
ings of  other  men,  has  nothing  in  him  which  prevents  him 
from  being  a  vulgar  thief,  should  his  necessities  require  him 
to  be.  ]\Iason,  if  not  too  laz}',  may  3'et  be  compelled  to 
accept  a  situation  as  Petor  Funk  of  a  New-York  auction- 
shop  in  order  to  keep  himself  from  starvation.  Elizur 
"Wright  suggests  that  he  deserves  a  severer  punishment  than 
Slidell,  even  hanging,  on  his  grandfather's  account.  Con- 
siderabl}''  shocked,  I  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  that ;  and 
he  said,  he  meant  that  he  deserved  to  be  hanged  for  disgra- 
cing the  name  of  George  Mason,  the  Virginia  abolitionist  of 
the  Revolutionary  era.     A  good  point. 


274  "WARRIXGTON:" 

[May  20,  1862.] 
COLORED   RECRUITS   AND    CONDITIONAL   PATRIOTISM. 

Gov.  Andrew's  letter  to  the  Secretar}'  of  War,  giving  the 
government  a  hint  that  volunteering  would  be  more  speed}' 
and  enthusiastic  here  in  Massachusetts  if  the  enemj^'s 
"  magazine,"  slaver^',  was  not  considered  too  sacred  a  thing 
to  be  fired  into,  has  also  been  the  subject  of  a  number  of 
sensation  articles.  The  governor  is  accused  of  being  a 
"conditional"  patriot.  So  it  is  "  conditional  patriotism  " 
to  sa}'  that  the  3'oung  men  of  Berkshire  and  "Worcester  and 
Plymouth  would  rather  fight  for  freedom  than  for  slavery,  is 
it?  It  is  "  conditional  patriotism  "  to  intimate  to  the  Presi- 
dent, that,  if  he  will  let  Gen.  Hunter's  proclamation  of 
freedom  stand,  the  people  will  rail}'  to  the  rescue  of  the 
country  with  more  alacrit}'  than  they  will  if  he  constantly 
thwarts  and  baffles  eveiy  efibrt  on  the  part  of  our  generals 
to  strike  down  the  arch-foe  of  the  country's  peace,  is  it?  It 
is  "conditional  patriotism"  to  hint  that  the  fathers  and 
mothers  and  brothers  and  sisters  of  our  brave  Massachusetts 
volunteers  are  quite  as  willing  to  see  able-bodied,  acclimated 
black  men  enlisted  to  do  the  drudgery  of  the  camp,  and  the 
warlike  work  of  the  field,  as  to  have  their  own  sons  and 
brothers  subjected  to  the  unnecessar}-  toil,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  stupidest  of  abstractions,  or  the  vulgarest  and  wicked- 
est of  prejudices,  made  invalids  or  corpses  in  the  divine 
cause  of  human  slaver}',  is  it?  It  is  "  conditional  patriot- 
ism "  to  object  to  sending  down  Massachusetts  white  regi- 
ments to  be  boiled,  baked,  and  roasted  under  the  sun  of  the 
Yorktown  Peninsula  in  guarding  the  premises  of  rebel 
colonels,  or  on  the  coast  of  Florida  in  watching  lest  the  fire 
should  catch  the  premises  of  a  rebel  guerilla  chief  absent 
on  duty,  is  it?  "  Conditional  patriotism  "  to  think  that  our 
soldiers  might  be  better  employed  in  putting  down  slavery 
than  in  bolstering  it  up,  striking  home  at  the  heart  of  the 
monster  evil,  rather  than  shielding  and  protecting  it,  is  it? 
"Conditional  patriotism"  to  think  that  the  Hampden  and 


PEN-PORTBAITS.  275 

Franklin  and  Middlesex  boys  are  as  good,  and  as  worthy  of 
protection  against  negro  arms,  as  the  barbarian  herds  of 
Florida  and  Georgia,  is  it  ?  For  ever}'  man  we  send  to  the 
South  ixits  himself  in  peril  from  the  bullets  of  negro  soldiery. 
Negroes  are  good  enough  to  kill  the  men  Col.  Horace  C.  Lee 
has  marched  down  to  North  Carolina  ;  but  the  men  Col.  Lee 
is  opposing  and  trying  to  subdue  are  —  Heaven  save  the 
mark !  —  of  too  fine  a  qualit}'  to  be  the  mark  for  black 
musketry.  Nothing  but  a  Massachusetts  bullet,  sped  by  a 
white  man,  will  do  for  them. 

There  is  a  very  general  feeling  here,  that  if  the  govern- 
ment would  give  up  its  theory  of  the  possibilit}^  of  saving 
slavery  and  the  Union  together,  and  accept  the  services  of  a 
million  able-bodied  loyalists  now  waiting  for  an  invitation 
into  our  ranks,  it  would  have  no  need  of  any  more  Northern 
recruits.  The  Yankee  is  patriotic  and  enterprising ;  but  he 
is  not  particularly  fond  of  doing  the  hard  work  of  the  world 
when  others  are  willing  to  do  it  under  his  guidance.  And, 
moreover,  politically  the}-  are  not  so  much  in  love  with 
slavery  as  to  think  Mr.  Seward's  theory  of  the  war,  as 
developed  in  his  letters  to  our  foreign  ministers,  is  the  best 
one  possible  to  be  devised.  Thej'  do  not  mean  wantonly  to 
violate  constitutional  guaranties,  if  there  are  any  such  ;  but 
inasmuch  as  slavery  has  outlawed  itself,  and  rendered  itself 
liable  to  destruction  at  but  little  if  any  expense  of  constitu- 
tional scruple,  they  do  not  see  the  sense  of  conducting  the 
war  for  the  sole  purpose  of  j^reserving  it. 

There  is  something  inexpressibly  ludicrous  in  the  dilemmas 
in  which  our  government  involves  itself  in  its  determination 
to  save  slavery  from  destruction  or  suicide.  A  plain  man 
would  suppose,  that  if  an  arch  traitor  or  enem}'  of  the  country 
should  insist  upon  killing  himself,  we  should  not  interfere, 
except,  perhaps,  for  the  purpose  of  executing  judgment  upon 
him  in  a  public  and  exemplar}'  way.  Slavery,  the  arch 
traitor  and  rebel,  the  only  traitor  and  rebel,  the  universal 
traitor  and  rebel,  stands  upon  a  precipice,  just  ready  to  throw 
itself  down  ;  and  we  are  preparing  to  prevent  the  fatal  plunge, 


276  "WARRINGTON: " 

or,  in  case  it  is  made,  to  break  tlie  fall,  and  nwrse  the  patient 
into  life  and  vigor  again.  "  The  condition  of  slavery  in  the 
several  States"  (said  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  in  April, 
1861)  "  will  remain  just  the  same,  "whether  the  rebellion 
succeed  or  fail.  The  rights  of  the  States,  and  the  condi- 
tion of  every  human  being  in  them,  will  remain  subject  to 
exacth'  the  same  laws,  and  forms  of  administration,  whether 
the  revolution  shall  succeed,  or  whether  it  shall  fail."  That 
is  to  sa3',  "  I  will  save  slavery,  unless  events  and  the  people 
are  stronger  than  I  am." 

[July  10.] 

GENERAL    McCLELLAN. 

I  don't  think  this  is  a  good  time  for  recrimination  and 
abuse,  or  for  careless  words  which  seem  like  recrimination 
and  abuse.  I  am  reminded  that  I  have  seemed  to  rejoice  in 
Gen.  McClellan's  mishap,-'  or  what  I  considered  his  mishap. 
Nothing  could  be  farther  from  m}-  thought.  I  ask.  When 
have  the  antislavery  men  failed  to  do  justice  to  ability  and 
success,  without  asking  questions  as  to  the  politics  of  the 
successful  man?  Did  w^e  ever  ask  what  were  Burnside's,  or 
Mitchell's,  or  Pope's,  or  Lyon's,  or  Foote's,  or  Dupont's,  or 
Davis's,  or  Farragut's  politics?  Did  our  knowledge  of  Hal- 
leck's  hunkerism  send  us  on  his  track,  so  long  as  he  showed 
energj',  and  achieved  success?  —  except,  indeed,  when  he  illus- 
trated his  principles  by  his  worse  than  foolish  orders  against 
negroes,  which  I  imagine  were  one  cause  of  his  failure  to 
catch  Beauregard,  or  to  find  out  where  he  was  gone.  Have 
we  been  factious  or  unreasonable  over  Fremont's  disgrace, 
brought  upon  him,  not  because  he  was  actuallj'  defeated,  but 
because  he  failed  to  defeat  and  capture  his  fl3'ing  foe  ?  The 
fact  is,  we,  the  antislavery  men,  have  been  so  devoted  to  our 
purpose  of  putting  through  this  war,  that  we  have  fanatically 
worshipped  success  and  everj'  man  who  achieved  it.  Here 
is  the  secret  of  our  opposition  to  McClellan :  — 

^  His  repulse  on  the  Peninsula,  in  one  of  his  "changes  of  base." 
Gen.  McCellan's  numerous  defeats  and  repulses  were  called  "changes 
of  base." 


A 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  277 

"  "WTiat  boots  it  thy  virtue, 
Wliat  profits  tliy  parts, 
While  one  tiling  tliou  lacljest,  — 
The  art  of  all  ai-ts?"i 

Gen.  McClellan  has  been  in  command  of  the  Armj'  of  the 
Potomac  nearly  a  3'ear.  lie  has  met  the  enemy  at  Williams- 
burg, "West  Point,  Fair  Oaks,  and  in  half  a  dozen  places  from 
Mechanicsville  to  Turkey  Landing.  He  has  repulsed  them 
always,  but  has  obtained  not  a  single  victory  over  them. 
This  is  the  naked  truth,  -which  no  man  can  den}'.  It  ma}-  be 
pleasant  to  patch  up  fig-leaves  to  cover  it ;  but  it  is  not  worth 
while  :  it  profits  neither  the  general  nor  the  country.  I  hope 
he  will  win  victories  :  indeed  he  must,  or  we  are  lost.  But,  if 
Congress  were  to  vote  him  a  sword,  it  would  be  puzzled  to 
get  be3-ond  Rich  Mountain  in  its  inscriptions.  It  could  hardly 
sa}',  as  Napoleon  said  to  Moreau  on  presenting  him  with  a 
pair  of  pistols,  "  I  designed  to  have  them  engraved  with  the 
names  of  all  xonx  victories  ;  but  there  was  not  room  enough 
to  contain  them."  McClellan's  militar}'  career  reminds  me 
of  the  stoiy  of  the  dipping  to  which  Charles  Lamb  was  sub- 
jected. Being  a  stutterer,  Lamb  got  soused  three  times 
before  he  could  cry  out  articulatel}',  "I  was  onh'  to  be  dipped 
once."  This  is  the  second  time  for  the  Potomac  general : 
the  next  and  last  must  come  before  long. 

[Aug.  10.] 
IN    WAR   TIME. 

The  contest  has  developed  itself  far  enough  to  satisf}- 
evcrybod}',  that,  no  matter  how  long  it  continues,  it  must  not 

1  Gov.  Andrew  said  yesterday  (July  12),  at  dinner,  that  Count 
Curowski  had  written  to  him  that  the  French  princes  left  the  army 
simply  because  of  McClellan's  total  inefficiency. 

Two  or  three  days  ago,  I  saw  Col.  E.  ^V.  Hincks  of  the  Nineteenth  at 
Dr.  "Willard's  house  in  Oak  Street.  He  told  me  in  so  n:;;ny  words,  that 
Heintzelman,  Sumner,  Hooker,  Sedgwick,  and  all  the  fighting  generals, 
had  a  total  lack  of  confidence  in  ^IcClollan's  military  ability.  He  also 
said  that  'McClellau  had  not  once  been  under  fire  since  he  had  been  on 
the  Peninsula.  —  From  Diary  of  18G2. 


278  "  WARRINGTON: " 

stop  till  one  side  or  the  other  is  completel}'  subjugated.  A 
peace  on  any  other  basis  would  be  nothing  more  than  a  pause 
between  two  battles,  —simply  a  cessation  of  the  cannonade. 
Better  universal  bankruptcy  and  repudiation,  a  tabula  rasa, 
a  new  date,  — the  j-ear  1  of  the  country-,  instead  of  the  3'ear 
87,  —  a  new  Declaration  of  Independence  and  Constitution, 
and  forgetfulness  of  the  old  ones  and  their  authors,  new  flags, 
new  seals,  new  emblems,  ncAV  capitals,  new  forms  of  govern- 
ment, new  oaths  and  formulas,  and  an  abolishment  of  all  old 
laws  and  traditions,  rather  than  peace  on  an}'  other  terms 
than  subjugation  of  the  rebels  to  our  complete  will,  or  subju- 
gation of  ourselves  to  their  wills.  Separation  and  recognition 
would  have  been  hazardous,  as  well  as  disgraceful,  even  if 
we  had  consented  to  it  before  the  hostilities  commenced.  But 
then  it  was  possible  :  now  it  is  a  clean  impossibility. 

A  conviction  of  this  fact  it  is  which  makes  some  of  us  so 
impatient  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  talk  about  "  saving  the  Union." 
If  he  means  the  government,  the  people,  the  nation,  very 
well :  but  he  means  the  union  of  States,  —  South  Carolina 
equal  with  Massachusetts,  and  Mississippi  with  Vermont, 
and  Virginia  with  New  York  ;  rebels  to  be  forgiven,  and  to 
have  equal  rights  with  loyal  men.  Thank  Heaven !  the  rebel 
leaders  are  too  proud  to  come  back  to  our  hated  companion- 
ship ;  and  I  hope  and  believe  we  are  too  manly  to  let  them 
enter  our  counsels  as  equals.  This  sort  of  a  "  Union  "  is  a 
dream,  a  delusion  ;  worse  than  that,  a  madness.  And  so  all 
question  of  what  we  shall  do,  or  refrain  from  doing,  —  how 
man}^  or  how  few  slaves  we  shall  make  frea,  or  keep  in 
slavery,  —  in  order  to  bring  about  this  Union,  seems  mere 
childishness.  The  thing  being  impossible,  questions  of  method 
are  out  of  place.  The  President  might  as  well  issue  proposals 
for  the  best  and  cheapest  plan  of  building  a  railway  to  Jupiter, 
—  to  the  infernal  regions,  rather,  to  make  the  comparison 
more  apt.  To  shriek  out,  "Save  the  old  Union,  the  Union  as 
it  was  !  "  is  as  wicked  as  it  would  be  for  a  half-converted  sin- 
ner, instead  of  praj-ing  to  be  newl}'  born  into  Christian  life 
and  holiness,  to  cry  out,  "Give  me  back  my  old  soul,  my 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  279 

soul  as  it  was  !  "     Are  we  not  going  to  get  sometldng  for  all 
this  blood  and  mone}'  we  are  spending  ? 

Is  Yankee  toil  and  shrewdness,  to  say  nothing  of  Saxon 
love  of  liberty,  brought  out  of  the  German  woods  to  Eng- 
land, and  thence  sent  forward  to  these  shores  in  the  veins  of 
Puritan  and  Revolutionar}'  men,  so  deteriorated,  that  we  are 
willing  to  decimate  our  population,  and  load  every  corpo- 
ration, nation,  state,  city,  count}-,  and  town  with  incalculable 
debt,  in  fighting  a  war  with  a  beggarly  bankrupt  who  has 
nothing  to  lose,  and  finall}-  leave  off,  not  only  without  reliev- 
ing ourselves  of  a  nuisance,  but  even  giving  him  clean  clothes, 
a  respectable  dwelling-house,  and  prestige  and  credit  on 
which  he  can  live  and  flourish  for  years,  to  our  worse  dis- 
credit and  annoyance  than  ever?  It  is  not  possible.  We 
must  try  conclusions  with  him.  If  slavery  has  trained  up  a 
race  of  men  with  superior  and  invincible  genius  for  govern- 
ment, why,  let  us  acknowledge  the  fact,  and  quietl}-  submit 
to  the  more  lordly  race.  But  it  is  not  so.  We  have  failed 
because  we  have  not  yet  emancipated  numbers  from  slaver}'. 
"  The  crack  of  the  whip  is  over  us  still."  Slavery  inspires 
one  army,  and  benumbs  the  other.  If  the  French  monarchy, 
with  its  centuries  of  abuses,  could  not  be  abolished  without 
a  convulsion  which  destroyed  a  king,  a  queen,  a  throne,  a 
bastille,  and  the  lives  of  five  millions  of  people,  do  we  expect 
a  more  hideous  wrong,  a  more  foul  imposture,  —  American 
slavery.,  with  a  rebellion  founded  on  it, — to  be  put  down 
without  the  cashiering  of  an  incompetent  oflScer,  the  fracture 
of  a  parchment,  the  rending  of  a  judicial  decision,  or  even  a 
shock  to  an  old  politician's  prejudices? 


280 


"WABRINGTON: 


CHAPTER    IX. 


JUBILEE  DAYS. 


Wl 


[Sept.  25,  18G2.] 
THE   EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION.  —  ANTIETAM. 

It  is  hardl^^  necessary  to  sa}'  that  the  President's  procla- 
mation is  received  in  Massachusetts  with  general  congratula- 
tion and  jo}'.  Sixteen  da^'s  ago,  a  convention  of  nearly  a 
thousand  delegates,  representing  the  party  which  includes 
two-thirds  of  the  people  in  its  ranks,  voted  unanimously'  that 
slavery  ought  to  be  "exterminated."  The  constituents  of 
these  men,  yow  ma}''  be  sure,  are  in  no  degree  behind  them 
in  opinion.  Many  of  our  people  were  getting  a  little  impa- 
tient with  the  President ;  but  most  of  them,  inspired  by  Mr. 
Sumner's  hopeful  confidence  in  his  integrit}',  and  openness 
to  the  reception  of  ideas  and  facts,  were  disposed  cheerfullj^ 
to  wait  till  he  should  have  fully  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
measure  was  a  wise  and  indispensable  one. 

Whether  the  battle  of  Antietam  (Phoebus,  what  a  name  !) 
was  a  victory  or  not,  we  have  had  a  victory  in  the  Presi- 
dent's edict  of  emancipation,  about  which  there  can  be  no 
dispute.  Brutum  fahnen  the}^  call  it.  Well,  even  if  it  is, 
it  follows  the  law  of  the  war.  Take  that  battle  of  Wednes- 
day,—  cannonading  from  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  until 
seven  o'clock  at  night,  incessant  discharges  of  musketry, 
assault  and  repulse,  tons  of  powder  and  ball  and  shell 
blown  away,  and  thousands  of  men  killed  and  wounded ; 
and  no  result  except  next  day  a  truce,  a  burial  of  the  dead. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  2S\ 

and  a  retreat  of  the  rebels  into  Virginia.  Take  the  whole 
campaign  of  the  last  three  weeks,  —  an  advance  into  Marj'- 
land,  havoc  and  the  dogs  of  war  let  loose  in  peaceful  and 
prosperous  neighborhoods,  and  an  advance  back  again. 
Na}-,  go  farther ;  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  gi'eat 
Peninsular  campaign,  of  which  this  is  the  end.  AYe  are  just 
where  Ave  were  earlj-  in  the  spring. 

Brutum  fulmen  indeed  !  At  least,  a  war  of  words,  edicts, 
and  proclamations  cost  nothing  in  life  and  blood.  It  has 
that  advantage,  at  any  rate,  over  this  aimless  warfare  we 
have  been  carrying  on  in  the  field,  this  "  vain  masquerade 
of  battle,"  as  Mr.  Sumner  called  it  in  his  speech  of  last 
j-ear.  I  would  not  disparage  nor  depreciate  the  necessity 
of  force.  No  set  of  men  has  clamored  so  loudl}-  for  great 
armies  as  the  abolitionists  ;  but  they  have  asked  that  the 
armies  shall  be  re-enforced  and  accompanied  by  ideas  which 
cost  nothing,  only  that  conscience  and  common  sense  shall 
have  free  play  and  scope  in  the  American  heart.  "  God  is 
always  on  the  side  of  the  strong  battalions"  is  Napoleonisra 
and  atheism.  "  The  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle 
to  the  strong,"  is  Scripture  and  truth.  '•  Ever}-  great  and 
commanding  moment  in  the  annals  of  the  world,"  says 
Emerson,  "is  the  triumph  of  some  enthusiasm."  And  he 
cites  the  victories  of  the  Arabs  after  Mahomet:  "The 
naked  Derar  horsed  on  an  idea  was  found  an  overmatch  for 
a  troop  of  Roman  cavalry.  Tlie^'  conquered  Asia,  and 
Africa,  and  Spain,  on  barley.  The  caliph  Omar's  walking- 
stick  struck  more  terror  into  those  who  saw  it  than  anothei 
man's  sword."  The  rebels  are  beneath  us  in  numbers  and  in 
militar}'  preparations  ;  tliere  can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  of  that  • 
but  thej-  figlit  for  somcthiug.  Tlie  surest  wa}-  to  overtiu-ow 
and  destro}'  thcra  v/ould  be  by  some  crusading  cry  like 
"Emancipation!"  but  we  are  so  debauched  by  worship  of 
the  lilthy  idol,  slaver}',  that  we  cannot  have  that.  Only  as  a 
military  and  civil  necessity  can  we  have  emancipation.  The 
sympathies  of  God,  and  all  good  men  and  nations,  must  be 
enlisted  on  our  side  by  this  proclamation  ;  and,  even  although 


'282  •  "WARRINGTON:" 

we  shall  not  be  able  to  attain  the  divine  enthusiasm  which 
would  sweep  every  thing  before  it,  we  must  now  conquer. 
We  have  made  the  cause  of  libert}'  and  civilization  clearly 
our  own.  No  more  slave-catching.  No  more  repulses  of 
lo3'al,  faithful  black  men.  No  more  slaughter  of  escaping 
Unionists,  however  dark-colored,  in  the  streets  of  New 
Orleans.  No  more  submission  to  such  awful  and  ineffaceable 
ignomin}'  as  that  we  have  suffered  at  Harper's  Ferry,  where 
the  white  Unionists  were  paroled,  and  the  black  ones  —  inno- 
cent men,  non-combatants,  wai'ds  and  children  of  the  United 
States  —  were  hurried  off  into  slaver}^ ;  or  as  that  we  suffered 
on  the  Potomac,  where  the  black  men  who  drove  our  ambu- 
lances were  seized  by  their  rebel  masters. 

The  prayer  of  twenty  millions  is  answered.  How  many 
slaves  will  be  made  free  by  the  immortal  document  to  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  has  placed  his  name,  is  uncertain  ;  nor  is  it  of 
the  first  importance.  When  we  build  a  gunboat,  we  don't 
know  whether  she  will  ever  reach  an  enemy's  fort ;  when  we 
make  a  cannon,  we  have  no  security  that  it  will  not  be  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy  before  it  has  slain  a  rebel ;  when  we 
send  forward  a  regiment,  we  know  not  but  it  ma}'  be  led  to 
slaughter  at  Ball's  Bluff,  or  some  other  bluff,  as  the  Eigh- 
teenth was  the  other  day,  before  it  has  fulfilled  its  mission  of 
war  against  treason.  The}'  say  the  rebels  will  laugh  at  the 
proclamation.  I  think  they  will.  The}'  laugh  at  every  thing 
we  do.  They  have  learned  so  thoroughly  to  despise  our 
statesmanship  and  generalship,  that  they  will  in  all  probabil- 
ity keep  on  deriding  us.  Well  they  may.  This  very  habit 
of  derision  may  be  their  ruin.  Of  course,  they  will  not 
return  to  their  allegiance  before  Jan.  1 ;  and  it  is  too  much 
to  hope  that  we  shall  conquer,  and  re-establish  our  suprem- 
acy over  any  great  portion  of  the  territory  now  dominated 
by  the  Confederacy.  We  may  i-each  Richmond ;  we  may 
redeem  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  :  but  it  is  hardly  probable, 
with  the  utmost  efforts  we  can  put  forth.  If  we  do  not,  on 
the  1st  of  Januar}  the  edict  of  emancipation  must  be 
enforced.     Three  months'  time  will  be  sufficient  to  let  the 


PEK-PORTRAITS.  283 

negroes  know  what  "  Old  Abe  "  said  and  meant  on  the  22d 
instant ;  and  then  they  will  either  help  themselves  to  free- 
dom, to  their  rights  under  the  law  of  the  land,  or  the 
rebel  armies  will  melt  awaj'  in  the  attempt  to  hold  them 
at  home.  We  shall  have  emancipation  or  subjugation,  and 
probabh'  both.  No  matter  for  results.  It  is  sufficient  to 
know  that  nothing  but  good  can  follow  from  an  act  of  justice 
like  this. 

The  battle  of  Antietam  resembles  the  fight  between 
Heenan  and  Sayers  more  than  any  other  I  can  think  of. 
It  was  a  series  of  knock-downs  and  bloody  noses,  with  Lee 
and  McClellan  and  Fitz-John  Porter,  and  fifteen  thousand 
reserves,  looking  on  as  umpires,  until  night  threw  up  the 
sponge,  and  declared  it  a  drawn  battle.  It  was  sheer  pound- 
ing on  both  sides,  with  not  a  spark  of  generalship  on  either. 

The  losses  in  the  Massachusetts  regiments  in  the  battle 
are  terrible.  The  Thirt3'-fifth  Regiment,  Col.  Wilde,  only  a 
month  or  five  weeks  from  home,  marched  a  hundred  miles 
just  before  the  action,  and  then  took  a  position  which  two 
other  regiments  refused.  The  list  of  killed  and  wounded, 
especially  in  the  Roxburj-,  Haverhill,  and  Newburj-port  com- 
panies, is  painfully  long.  How  splendidly  Massachusetts 
has  shone  out  during  this  whole  war  !  How  maguificenth*  her 
regiments  have  been  made  up,  officered,  and  equipped !  and 
how  gloriously  the}'  have  behaved  ! 


[Sept.  to  Nov.  7.] 
THE    people's    PAUTY.^ JOEL    PARKER    AND    OTHERS. 

There  is  an  element  of  the  comic  in  this  thing  in  its  con- 
nection with  Massachusetts  politics.  Stimulated  hy  ancient 
hatred  and  prejudice  against  Charles  Sumner,  and  by  the 
vain  hope  of  obtaining  some  little  Republican  help  in  their 

1  Tliis  party  was  composed  of  "  liunker"  proslavery  men  who  were 
opposed  to  the  election  of  Charles  Sumner.  "The  'hunker'  is  a  man 
who  hunks,  or  foists  himself  into  a  good  position;  probably  a  word  of 
Dutch  origin."  —  C.  C.  Hazewell. 


284  ''WARRINGTON:" 

opposition  to  him,  half  a  dozen  hunkers  got  together  the 
other  day,  and  said,  "Let  us  prepare  and  load  our  biggest 
petard,  iind  give  the  senator  a  hoist."  The  work  of  loading 
the  gun  was  intrusted  to  Judge  Joel  Parker,  who  was  known 
to  have  a  sufficiency  of  wadding,  if  his  projectiles  were  not 
of  the  most  formidable  kind.  So  the  judge  sat  himself 
down ;  and  said  he  to  himself  and  his  associates,  perhaps 
to  his  mathematical  friend  Benjamin  Pierce,  "Look  here. 
Given  the  problem  to  upset  Charles  Sumner,  how  shall  we 
doit?"  And  the  brethren  scratched  their  heads,  and  were 
at  a  loss.  At  last  some  one  who  had  read  tlie  newspapers 
bethought  him  that  he  had  seen  it  stated  in  "The  Post"  that 
the  Republican  Convention  had  refused  to  indorse  the  Presi- 
denl  purposel}'  using  the  word  "  government  "  instead. 
"  Ah,  I  have  it !  "  said  he  :  "  we  must  make  support  of  the 
President  our  platform,  and  denounce  Mr.  Sumner  and  his 
friends  as  the  President's  enemies."  No  sooner  said  than 
done.  Thus  was  the  platform  agreed  on.  If  anybody  sug- 
gested that  Mr.  Sumner  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the 
President,  had  been  in  the  Senate  the  foremost  supporter  of 
his  measures  and  policy,  and  had  written  urgent  letters  to 
persuade  his  radical  friends  to  hold  on  to  the  last  in  their 
faith  in  "  Old  Abe,"  doubtless  it  was  replied,  that  his  radical 
supporters  would  eventually  push  him  into  opposition.  K 
anybody  intimated  that  the  President  might  possiblj'  become 
himself  the  chief  of  emancipationists,  doubtless  the  idea  was 
scouted  b}'  these  political  bats.  The  programme  being  agreed 
on,  the  writing  of  the  address  was  an  Qixsy  matter  ;  and  j'et  I 
would  not  swear  to  that. 

To  one  used  to  writing  political  addresses  and  resolutions 
it  would  have  been  eas}'.  There  is  no  great  brillianc}'  of 
imagination  required  to  sa}',  "The  country  is  in  danger;" 
and  no  great  historical  knowledge  to  bring  a  man  to  the  con- 
clusion that  ' '  a  civil  war  has  desolated  the  land  for  more 
than  sixteen  months."  "The  world  has  never  before  seen" 
is  an  expression  which  has  been  applied  to  armies  and  fleets 
and  battles  so  often  during  this  war,  that  it  would  readily 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  2*^5 

occur,  even  to  a  dull  man,  in  writing  about  the  magnitude  of 
the  rebellion.  "Thundering  at  the  gates  of  the  capital"  is 
one  of  the  most  serviceable  hack  expressions ;  but  I  aban- 
doned it  long  ago  to  the  most  unskilful  of  newspaper  men, 
as  trite  and  unworthy.  The  address  was  an  eas}'  matter 
apparentl}- :  j-ou  had  only  to  use  a  conglomeration  of  words 
with  especial  care  to  conceal  3'our  meaning  ;  to  express  oppo- 
sition to  Sumner,  and  yet  say  nothing  about  him  ;  and  so 
frame  a  document  which  should  rope  in  the  unsuspecting,  and 
humbug  the  innocent,  while  to  those  in  the  secret  it  should  be 
luminous  with  meaning.  But,  alas  !  to  Judge  Joel  Parker,  a 
controversj',  or  something  like  one,  a  hit,  a  dig,  an  innuendo, 
is  as  necessary  as  a  breakfast  to  a  hard-working  laborer. 
He  doubtless  looked  over  his  job  in  its  rough  draught,  and 
said,  "  It  will  do  :  and  j'et  it  will  not  do  ;  for  I  have  not  hit 
an3'body  a  dig.  Go  to  :  I  will  find  a  place,  and  I  will  insert 
something,  which,  while  it  shall  do  no  harm,  shall  yet  satisfy 
m}'  combative  sense."  And  doubtless  he  interlined  the  words, 
"  We  want  no  impotent  proclamations  now,"  and  said  to  him- 
self, "  Now  I  have  placed  ra}^  imprimatur  on  it,  and  the  world 
will  know  it  is  Joel  Parker's."  And  it  went  forth.  "Go, 
little  book,"  said  some  poet  while  ushering  his  volume  into 
the  world.  "Go,  little  address,"  said  the  judge,  —  "go, 
and  astonish  the  universe.  Go  and  gather  together  the 
opponents  of  Mr.  Sumner.  Go  and  organize  a  hunker  oppo- 
sition to  him.  Go  and  make  m}'  name  immortal  as  a  politi- 
cian, as  it  now  is  as  a  lawyer,  a  professor,  a  reviewer,  and  a 
reviser." 

And  while  the  judge  was  putting  the  finishing  touch  to  it, 
perhaps  even  interlining  the  words  "  impotent  proclama- 
tion," lo !  Abraham  Lincoln  was  putting  words  together  into 
an  "  impotent  proclamation  "  just  such  as  Judge  Parker  had 
solemnly  declared  that  he  did  not  "want:"  and,  the  verj' 
da}'  after  the  manifesto  against  "impotent  proclamations" 
appeared,  out  came  the  identical  "  impotent"  one  which  the 
judge  had  warned  the  people  against ;  and  the  judge,  hav- 


286  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ing  read  the  morning  paper  of  the  22d,  and  seen  that  the 
period  of  gestation  and  delivery  was  safely  passed,  pro- 
ceeded to  headquarters,  and  issued  a  resolution  congratula- 
tory over  that  fact,  and  straightway  went  about  his  usual 
avocations,  leaving  to  Mr.  Swan  the  duty  of  engineering  the 
nascent  and  crescent  organization  which  was  to  be  no  organ- 
ization, and  part}'  which  was  to  be  no  party,  and  to  raise 
mone}'  for  the  printing  of  no-party  documents,  and  for  the 
support  of  no-party  newspapers  like  "  The  Boston  Courier," 
and  for  the  support  of  no-part}-  candidates  for  Congress  and 
the  Senate  and  House,  and  generally  for  the  advancement  of 
the  interests  of  pure  and  unadulterated  patriotism  and  no- 
partyism,  based  on  an  unqualified  support  of  the  President 
against  all  radical  attempts  to  make  him  issue  "impotent 
proclamations."  And  the  next  morning  the  judge  opened 
his  morning  paper,  and  looked  to  see  further  evidences  of  the 
progress  of  the  movement ;  and,  lo  !  he  beheld  in  startling  big 
letters  (impotent)  "Proclamation  of  Emancipation  b}' Pres. 
Lincoln."  I  draw  the  veil  over  the  scene,  but  can  onl^-hope 
the  judge  had  finished  his  coffee  and  muffins  before  he  came 
to  that  dreadful  heading. 

Mr.  Parker  is  understood  to  have  retired  to  his  professorial 
chair.  The  Law  School  was  divided  against  itself.  Prof. 
Parsons,  in  half  a  column  of  stirring  words,  did  more  to  elect 
Sumner  and  Andrew,  than  Prof.  Parker,  by  his  hundred 
columns  of  sophistry,  to  defeat  them.  The  people  of  New 
Jersey  believe  in  Joel  Parker,'  for  I  see  they  have  chosen 
him  governor ;  and  Joel  evidentl}^  believes  in  himself:  but 
the  people  of  Massachusetts  don't  believe  in  him,  or  the 
' '  others ' '  who  followed  him.  Let  him  keep  in  the  Law  School, 
to  which  he  has  returned.  ' '  Take  him  up  tenderh',  lift  him 
with  care,  fashioned  so  slenderly,  young  and  so  fair."  Let 
me  make  a  funeral  procession  for  him  as  he  proceeds  toward 
the  classic  shades  :  — 

1  Another  Joel  Parker. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  287 


"Others" 

"Others" 

"  Others" 

"Others" 

Joel  Pauker 

"Others" 

"Others" 

"Others" 
"Others." 
"Oth- 
ers ' ' 
"0 
t 
h 
e 
r 

"Others" 

But  this  is  poor  business,  I  am  afraid,  trying  to  create  a 
laugh  under  the  ribs  of  death. 


POLITICAL   HISTORY   IN   1801   AND    18G2. 

The  Republican  part}'  is  the  only  party  in  this  State,  or  in 
any  of  the  States,  which  has  ever  acted  on  the  sublime  no- 
part}'  principles  which  are  proclaimed  in  such  platitudinous 
language  —  as  if  they  were  new  and  profound  truths  —  by 
Judge  Parker.  If  there  is  a  State  in  the  Union  where  the 
Democratic  part}',  since  November,  1860,  has  failed  to  main- 
tain its  organization  in  all  its  strictness,  I  should  like  to 
know  which  it  is.  At  the  very  moment  Parker  was  issuing 
his  address,  there  was  in  print  in  "  The  Boston  Post"  a 
partisan  call  for  a  Democratic  State  Convention ;  and  the 
nearness  of  time  of  holding  tliese  two  proslaver}'  cou^'en- 
tions  makes  it  certain  lliat  a  "  truck  and  dicker,"  like  that 
"which  used  to  characterize  coalition  and  Know-Nothing  par- 
ties, must  have  been  entered  into  by  the  high  contracting 
parties.  Last3ear  the  Republicans  nominated  Judge  Abbott, 
a  Democrat,  for  attorne^'-general,  and  Edward  Dickinson,  a 
Bell-Everett,  for  lieutenant-governor ;  thus  giving  to  one- 
third  of  the  voters  one-third  of  the  ticket.  They  also  passed 
a  very  moderate  set  of  resolutions.  Yet  the  organs  of  the 
two  parties  which  an  attempt  was  thus  made  to  conciliate 
denounced  the  Republicans  more  bitterly  than  ever.    Messrs. 


288  "  WARniKGTON: " 

Abbott  and  Dickinson  declined  ;  and  the  Republicans,  finding 
that  all  further  efforts  at  conciliation  were  thrown  away, 
nominated  men  of  their  own  party  to  fill  the  vacancies,  and 
went  on  to  elect  their  own  ticket.  No-part3'ism  prevailed  in 
some  of  the  senatorial  and  representative  districts  ;  and  some 
of  the  Democrats  acted  in  good  faith,  and  behaved  them- 
selves like  gentlemen  and  patriots  as  they  were  ;  but,  as  a 
general  thing,  they  stood  on  one  side,  taking  all  the^'  could 
get,  and  giving  nothing  in  return.  This  is  a  brief  yet  true 
history  of  our  politics  since  the  war  broke  out,  up  to  the 
meeting  of  the  Republican  Convention  on  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1862. 

[Jan.  1,  1863.] 
JUBILEE    DAT. 

The  war  has  thus  far  been  conducted  on  the  principles  and 
with  the  instruments  furnished  b}'  the  Democratic  part3',  the 
allies  of  Jefferson  Davis  in  man}^  a  well-fought  political 
battle-field.  A  large  majority  of  this  part}-,  voters  and 
leaders,  is  to-day  in  actual  rebellion  against  the  government. 
Won't  there  be  a  black  record  against  this  party  for  the 
future  political  annalist? 

Take  a  "  Tribune  Almanac,"  or  any  other  political  man- 
ual, and  look  at  a  list  of  the  governing  men  —  the  senators, 
representatives,  and  governors  —  of  two  j-ears  ago,  and  j'ou 
will  find  that  a  large  majority,  nearl}-  all,  of  those  which  were 
marked  down  as  Democrats,  are  now  the  sworn  enemies  of 
the  United  States.  To  their  allies  of  the  Northern  States 
we  have  intrusted  the  "big  job"  of  putting  them  down. 
Congress,  at  the  outset  of  the  struggle,  adopted  the  old 
Cincinnati  platform,  or  its  equivalent,  the  Crittenden  reso- 
lutions ;  and  from  that  da}-  to  this,  with  occasional,  and  lat- 
terl}'  with  frequent  oscillations  and  divergences,  the  war  has 
been  carried  on  according  to  the  notions  of  Jeffs  political 
friends,  and  strictl}^  on  Democratic  principles.  Fremont  and 
Hunter  tried  to  switch  the  government  off  the  proslavery 
track,  but  did  not  succeed.     Unmerciful  disaster  compelled 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  289 

the  removal  of  McClellaa  and  Pope,  and  some  other  Demo- 
cratic generals ;  but  Halleck,  and  Fitz-John  Porter,  and 
FraukUn,  and  a  number  of  others,  stick  closer  than  brothers 
to  us  3'et.  What  a  record  of  incompetency  and  half-hearted- 
ness  is  furnished  by  the  Washington  courts  of  inquiry ! 
Every  officer  whose  testimony  I  have  seen  enlarges  elo- 
quently on  the  difficulties  in  his  path  and  in  the  path  of  his 
brother  Fitz  or  Mac.  The}-  had  dark  nights  invariabl}',  as 
well  as  bad  roads,  when  required  to  move  on  the  enem}-. 
The  inconstant  moon  refused  to  shine,  and  the  constant  mud 
refused  to  dry  up. 

Is  this  daj-  to  signalize  the  complete  and  final  eman- 
cipation of  "Honest  Abe"  from  Democratic  principles 
and  men?  If  it  is,  we  are  safe  enough;  and  January, 
18G4,  will  see  a  recovered  nationalit}-,  a  "noble  and  puis- 
sant nation."  Is  it  safe  to  sa3'more?  "Interpret  for  me 
the  libretto,"  said  Mr.  Choate  to  his  daughter  at  the  opera, 
"lest  I  dilate  with  the  wrong  emotion."  Is  it  safe  to 
shout  over  this  da}'  of  jubilee,  or  even  to  go  to  the  concert 
at  Music  Hall  this  afternoon,  and  hear  the  beautiful  music 
which  Zerrahn  and  Dresel  have  promised?  I  think  it  is.  I 
don't  see  how  this  Declaration  of  Independence  can  fail 
to  bring  forth  good  fruit.  That  old  Declaration  of  July  4, 
1776,  remained  a  ridiculous  brutum  fulmen  for  seven  3'cars. 
No  doubt  man}-  a  mad  wag  among  the  Tories  of  that  day 
had  his  jeer  at  it,  comparing  it  to  the  Pope's  bull  against  the 
comet.  The  humorous  papers  and  the  humorous  men  of 
New  York  and  Boston  no  doubt  had  their  laughs  over  it. 
"Free  and  independent  States,  are  j'ou?  Are  you  not  get- 
ting out  of  your  jurisdiction?  Hasn't  England  something 
to  say  about  that?  Are  ^'ou  sure  j'ou  have  material  force 
enough  to  maintain  your  Declaration?  Poh,  poh !  Brutum 
fulmen^  brutum  fulmen!  Pope's  bull,  Pope's  bull!  Ha,  ha, 
ha !  "  said  the  mad  wags.  But  Yorktowu  and  1783  came  at 
last ;  and  it  turned  out  that  the  Declaration  was  good  from 
the  first  day. 

Jeff  Davis  knows  better  than  the  funny  newspapers.     He 


290  "WARRINGTON:" 

doesn't  sneer  at  the  Proclamation :  he  knows  that  words 
are  things.  Wh}',  what  is  the  Rebel  Confederacy  but  a 
parchment?  Repeal  the  acts  of  secession,  and  it  is  gone  in 
a  moment.  Subdue  the  Confederacy  by  force  of  arms,  and 
you  only  abolish  rebel  parchment,  and  substitute  the  old 
parchment  now  in  the  archives  at  Washington.  The  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  is  a  parchment  just  as  worthless  as 
"  Old  Abe's  "  Proclamation  unless  it  is  made  vital  b}'  a  pop- 
ular purpose  and  determination  ;  and  the  Proclamation  may 
be  made  as  vital  and  animating  as  the  Declaration,  if  the 
President  and  the  people  sa}-  the  word.  "  The  flighty  purpose 
never  is  o'ertook  unless  the  deed  go  with  it,"  says  Shak- 
speare.  Let  "  Old  Abe  "  remember  that.  Jeff  Davis  remem- 
bers it  in  connection  with  his  parchment  constitution  and  all 
his  other  parchments.  There  was  a  "  battle  of  the  books  " 
once,  according  to  Swift :  now  let  us  see  which  will  get  the 
best  of  the  battle  of  the  parchments. 

The  Jubilee  Concert  on  the  1st  was  a  grand  success.  I 
see  "The  Courier"  has  been  pitching  into  it.  What  will 
become  of  the  poor  devils  who  sj'mpathize  with  that  news- 
paper? Literature,  religion,  and  science,  and  sculpture,  and 
painting,  and  music,  are  now  all  against  them.  Cannot 
somebody  idealize  the  slave-driver  in  marble,  and  set  it  up 
in  one  of  their  club-rooms  for  their  special  gratification,  or 
make  a  musical  composition  which  shall  alarm  their  ears 
with  the  shrieks  of  poor  women  for  stolen  babies?  Let 
something  be  done  at  once. 


[AprU  10.] 
SWORD-PRESENTATION   TO    GEN.    McCLELLAN. 

What  does  Mac  want  of  another  sword  ?  Has  he  hacked 
his  old  one  on  some  rock  by  the  roadside  to  make  it  appear 
as-  if  it  had  been  used  ?  The  sword  bears  an  inscription : 
"Pro  rege  ssepe,  pro  patria  semper."  George  Lunt,  who 
made  the  presentation-speech,  undertook  to  translate  this 
"  for  the  benefit  of  the  country  members."    Waving  his  hand 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  291 

solemnly,  and  swelling  his  voice  to  a  parenthetic  chord,  said 
he,  "  For  the  administration  when  it  behaves  itself ;  for  the 
countr}'  alwaj-s."  The  general,  who  is  supposed  to  under- 
stand Latin,  and  who  is  not  such  a  fool  as  to  be  ignorant  of 
the  animus  of  the  whole  proceeding,  on  his  own  part  as  well 
as  on  the  part  of  the  flunkies  and  Tories,  —  the  general,  I 
understand,  rather  resented  this  imputation  upon  his  clas- 
sical knowledge  and  his  common  sense,  and  intimated  in  his 
reply,  that  he  knew,  as  well  as  Lunt,  what  the  words  meant  in 
this  case.  I  have  these  particulars  from  3'our  correspondent 
Mr.  Frye,  who  was  present,  but  was  too  greatly  overcome 
with  his  emotions  to  send  you  a  full  account  to-da}'.  How 
Fr^'e  happened  to  get  into  the  parlor  is  more  than  I  can 
tell.  But  he  informs  me  that  two  gentlemen  from  Hampden 
County  were  with  him ;  and,  as  nearly  as  I  can  ascertain, 
these  three  are  the  onl}'  persons,  known  or  suspected  of  being 
in  an}' way  connected  with  "The  Republican,"  who  have 
been  allowed  to  see  the  general.  Frye  informs  me  that  one 
of  his  companions  casuall^y  remarked  to  one  of  the  chief 
flunkies,  that  he  "had  had  a  verj- good  opportunity- to  see 
Gen.  McClellan ;  "  and  flunky  replied,  "Yes;  but  there 
ain't  manj'  abolitionists  that  have  had  a  chance."  Right, 
O  flunky  !  right !  And  I  rejoice  to  say  that  there  ain't  many 
"  abolitionists  "  who  have  wanted  a  chance.  But  enough 
of  this  thing,  which  will  soon  be  over.  Sheetings  and 
shirtings  will  soon  again  absorb  the  attention  and  energies 
of  Beacon  and  Mount -Vernon  Streets.  Onlj-  twent3--four 
hours  more  remain  for  bab^'-kissing  and  pitcher-presenting, 
unless  the  visit  is  protracted  to  allow  North  and  Richmoud 
Streets  to  send  up  their  babies  (with  their  mugs)  likewise. 
And  why  not?  North  and  Richmond  Streets  have  more 
votes,  and,  for  that  matter,  more  brains,  than  Beacon  and 
Mount -Vernon  Streets.  Ah,  well !  good-b}',  general.  Luck- 
il}',  you  don't  know  enough  to  appreciate  and  laugh  at  the 
sublime  follj'  of  the  rich  and  ignorant  classes  of  the  Tri- 
mountain  Cit}'. 


292  "WAREINGTON: " 

[May  21.] 
COLORED  TROOPS.  — HOW  A  NEGRO  REGIMENT  LOOKS. 

The  scene  at  Readville  camp  last  Monday  was  an  exhila- 
rating one  for  those  who  believe  this  rebellion  can  be  put 
down  b}""  the  exercise  of  proper  methods,  and  who  are  im- 
patient to  see  such  methods  resorted  to  as  soon  and  as  fast 
as  possible.  Here  was  a  regiment  of  a  thousand  men,  every 
one  of  them  with  an  Enfield  musket  (or  Springfield,  no 
matter  which),  and  apparently  with  rather  an  uncommon 
amount  of  muscle  and  will  to  devote  to  the  using  of  it. 
The}''  marched  well ;  the}'  wheeled  well ;  they  stood  well ; 
they  handled  their  guns  well ;  and  there  was  about  their 
whole  array  an  air  of  completeness  and  order  and  morale 
such  as  I  have  not  seen  surpassed  in  any  white  regiment.  I 
believe  I  am  not  biassed  by  negrophilism,  or  coerced  by  the 
dark  shadow  of  that  bad  time  which  the  copperhead  thinks 
is  coming,  when  white  men  shall  have  no  rights  which  the 
black  man  is  bound  to  respect ;  but,  as  I  am  unmilitary,  I 
would  not  give  an  opinion  of  this  regiment,  if  I  did  not  find 
it  confirmed  by  everybody  who  has  seen  it.  There  was  a 
good  sprinkling  of  abolitionists  among  the  bystanders  ;  but 
among  those  who  looked  on  with  approbation,  if  not  admira- 
tion, there  must  have  been  many,  who,  within  the  last  two 
years,  have  declared  that  they  would  not  fight  for  or  with 
the  negro,  and  would  not  have  the  negro  fight  for  them,  and 
did  not  believe  he  could  fight,  or  would ;  and  that,  if  the 
rebellion  couldn't  be  put  down  by  white  soldiers,  it  ought 
not  to  be  put  down  at  all.  Monday  they  were  round  grunt- 
ing out,  "  Who  says  these  niggers  won't  fight?  "  leaving  one 
to  suppose  that  they  were  original  friends  of  the  policy  of 
encouraging  and  employing  them.  I  suppose  we  ought  to 
have  charity  for  such  people,  — people  who  have  "  conquered 
their  prejudices."  But  the  trouble  is,  they  had  no  business 
to  entertain  such  prejudices.  Nobody  did  entertain  them 
who  was  capable  intellectually  of  making  up  a  judgment  of 
his  own. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  293 

The  presentation  proceedings  at  Readville  were  somewhat 
tedious,  there  being  too  man}-  flags  b}'  one.  The  Putnam 
flag,  as  it  may  be  called,  with  its  illuminated  cross  and  "  In 
hoc  signo  viuces,"  was  \cvy  beautiful,  and  ought  to  be  very 
precious.  The  Governor  said  that  he  was  identified  with  the 
Fift3'-fourth,  and  his  administration  would  stand  or  fall  with 
its  success  or  failure.  He  has  taken  great  pains  with  its 
organization;  and  the  '"Brahmin  caste,"  which  Dr.  Holmes 
tells  us  about  in  "  Elsie  Venner,"  is  supposed  to  be  more 
largely  represented  in  its  organization  than  even  in  the  other 
fifty-tlu'ee,  though  it  is  not  lacking  anj'where.  I  suspect  it 
is  no  better  blood  or  fighting  material  than  that  which  exists 
in  the  farmers',  carpenters',  and  shoemakers'  sons  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Education,  however,  goes  a  good  waj's ;  and 
though  Harvard  College  breeds  a  fearful  number  of  snobs, 
yet  a  knowledge  of  science  and  history  does  inevitabl}', 
except  in  the  hereditarj'  fool,  lift  a  man  above  prejudices  of 
color  and  race,  and  makes  him  more  and  more  a  genuine 
democrat.  Your  true  literary  man,  till  he  grows  seed}',  is 
likely  to  be  democratic  in  his  tastes  and  feelings.  Col. 
8haw  of  the  Fift3'-fourth  is  a  grandson  of  Robert  G.  Shaw, 
son  of  Francis  G.  Shaw  of  Staten  Island,  and  brother-in-law 
of  George  William  Curtis.  He  is  slight,  but  compact  in 
figure,  with  liglit  hair  and  mustache,  and  without  a  beard. 
He  looks  and  speaks  like  a  good  soldier.  The  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  major  are  Hallowells  of  Philadelphia,  strong  anti- 
slaver}-  men.  And,  indeed,  the  Governor  would  not  be  justi- 
fied in  appointing  to  command  in  this  regiment  men  who  have 
not  a  firm  and  implicit  faith  in  the  negro's  common  human 
nature,  and  a  determination  to  sec  that  he  has  a  fair  chance. 

The  death  of  Lieut. -Col.  Rodman  of  New  Bedford,  at  Port 
Hudson,  was  a  painful  event  to  many  who  knew  him  as  a 
member  of  the  legislature  of  18G2.  He  was  a  fine,  stalwart 
figure  of  a  man,  occupied  a  respectable  position  as  a  legislat- 
or, and  was  generally  popular.  I  believe  he  was  a  graduate 
of  Harvard  College.  We  evidentl}'  have  not  yet  got  full 
accounts  of  the  slaughter  of  our  troops  at  Port  Hudson. 


294  "WARRINGTON: " 

One  account  of  the  killed  and  wounded  in  New-England 
regiments,  which  professed  to  be  complete,  had  the  names  of 
only  four  killed  in  the  Fortj'-ninth ;  but  we  know,  from  the 
list  printed  in  "  The  Republican,"  that  there  were  seven- 
teen. "  The  New- York  World"  has  a  curious  story  about 
a  Federal  officer,  who  said  the  loss  was  three  hundred  killed 
and  fifteen  hundred  wounded.  "  But  how  about  the  colored 
regiments?  the}-  lost  five  or  six  hundred." — "Oh,  d — n 
the  niggers  !  we  don't  count  them  anj'  thing."  Government 
don't  count  them  any  thing.  They  were  killed  without  quar- 
ter, and  even  crucified  in  plain  sight  of  our  troops,  accord- 
ing to  "The  Boston  Journal's"  account;  and  not  a  rebel 
has  been  made  to  sufi'er  for  it.  At  Milliken's  Bend,  as  we 
read,  the  colored  men  fought  well ;  but  their  white  officers 
skulked.  Who  can  blame  them  for  skullving?  They  knew 
of  the  slaughter  at  Port  Hudson,  and  of  the  fate  which 
awaited  them  under  similar  cu-cumstances ;  they  knew,  too, 
that  their  murder  would  be  unavenged.  Is  it  not  monstrous 
for  this  government  to  send  such  men  as  Col.  Shaw  and 
Col.  Hallowell  and  their  bravq  soldiers  into  positions  where 
certain  death  awaits  them,  if  captured? 


[July  9.] 

BATTLE   OF   GETTYSBURG. 

I  i^ropose  to  go  off  in  a  burst  of  poetical  quotation  ;  and 
here  you  have  it :  — 

"  Oh !  who  that  shared  them  ever  shall  forget 

The  emotions  of  the  spirit-rousing  time, 

When,  breathless  in  the  mart,  the  couriers  met, 

Early  and  late,  at  evening  and  at  prime ; 

When  the  loud  cannon  and  the  merry  chime 

Hailed  news  on  news,  as  field  on  field  was  won ; 

When  Hope,  long  doubtful,  soared  at  length  sublime, 

And  our  glad  eyes,  awake  as  day  begun, 
Watched  Joy's  broad  banner  rise  to  meet  the  rising  sun? 

Oh  1  these  were  hours  when  thrilling  joy  repaid 
A  long,  long  course  of  darkness,  doubts,  and  fears : 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  295 

The  heartsick  faintness  of  the  hope  delayed ; 
The  waste,  the  woe,  the  bloodshed,  and  the  tears 
That  tracked  with  terror  two  long-rolling  years,  — 
All  was  forgot  in  that  blithe  jubilee. 
Her  downcast  eye  even  pale  Affliction  rears, 
To  sigh  a  thankful  prayer,  amid  the  glee 
That  hailed  the  despot's  fall,  and  peace  and  liberty." 

This  is  the  only  thing-  I  can  call  to  mind  worthy  of  the 
occasion.  Prose  is  not  worth}'  of  it,  unless  something  like 
De  Quincey's  piece,  entitled  "Going  down  with  Victor}'," 
which  is  too  long  to  quote,  but  which  is  grander  than  most 
poetr3^  Those  English  dragoons  at  the  battle  of  Talavera 
who  "rode  their  horses  into  the  mists  of  death,  and  laid 
down  their  lives  for  thee,  O  mother  England !  as  willingly, 
poured  out  their  noble  blood  as  cheerfull}',  as  ever,  after 
a  long  day's  sport,  when  infants,  they  had  rested  their 
wearied  heads  upon  their  mothers'  knees,  or  had  sunk  to 
sleep  in  her  arms,"  — those  dragoons  were  not  more  worthy 
of  immortality  than  some  of  the  Massachusetts  regiments 
which  fought  at  Gettysburg.  Take  the  Nineteenth,  or  the 
Twentieth,  which  lost,  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  a 
little  more  than  one-half  its  number.  Take  the  Second, 
which  was  in  Gen.  Meade's  old  division,  and  has  been  pro- 
nounced by  him  the  finest  regiment  in  the  whole  army :  its 
loss  is  like  that  of  the  Twentieth,  and  perhaps  larger  in 
proportion  to  its  numbers.  The  country  owes  an  apology  to 
the  Potomac  Army  ;  for  one  half  of  the  people  said  it  would 
do  no  effective  service  unless  its  old  Copperhead  chieftain  ^ 
was  restored,  and  large  numbers  of  the  other  half  believed 
or  feared  the  libel  was  a  fact.  Meade  has  shown  them  the 
enemy's  backs  ;  and  they  must  be  so  enamoured  of  the  sight, 
that  they  will  not  sigh  for  an}'  of  their  old  commanders, 
under  whose  lead  they  were  so  often  compelled  to  ' '  turn 
tail,"  to  use  the  President's  graceful  language.  What  mat- 
ters it  if  the  language  isn't  graceful? 

Mr.  Lincoln  might  well  feel  jubilant  enough  to  dispense 

1  McClellan, 


296  "  WARRINGTOK: " 

with  elegances ;  and  if  the  English  reviewers,  in  their 
anger  over  this  news,  laugh  at  the  President's  speech,  he 
may  reply  (he  replies  to  every  thing  nowadays)  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Elijah  Pogr  am  to  Martin  Chuzzlewit,  "We  are  a 
sprj'^  people,  sir,  and  have  no  time  to  acquire  forms." 
Didn't  they  "turn  tail"?  Then  why  not  say  so?  It  is 
pleasant  to  see  that  the  President  remembers  what  the  rebels 
waged  this  war  for,  —  to  overthrow  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  It  is  this  attempt  to  overthrow,  nullify, 
destro}',  the  great  declaration  of  human  equalit}',  which  has 
been  baffled  at  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg ;  and  the  Presi- 
dent remembers  with  gratitude  our  escape  from  the  great 
re-action.  Bull}^  for  him  !  The  generality  glitters  yet,  and 
is  living  as  well  as  glittering.  American  democrac}',  born 
and  cradled  in  Boston,  has  not  spread  all  over  the  Central 
and  Western  States  to  be  strangled  at  this  late  hour  by 
the  spawn  of  tjTanny  hatched  in  the  Carolinas.  Whatever 
now  comes  of  this  war,  that  experiment  has  been  tried,  and 
failed.  The  slaveholdiug  power,  aided  as  it  has  been  by 
part3'-spirit  in  the  free  States,  has  proved  itself  to  be  infe- 
rior to  the  free  power.  Its  courage  is  matched,  and  its 
resources  are  overpowered.  They  had  the  hours  and  days 
and  months  ;  but  the  years  are  against  them.  They  had  the 
battles,  but  we  the  campaigns.  Something  else  must  be 
tried.  I  believe  the  big  battles  of  this  war  are  nearl}^  over ; 
for,  after  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg,  it  will  be  true  of  the 
rebel  leaders   as   it  was  of  their  progenitors   in  Milton's 

epic,  — 

"  Such  another  field 
They  dreaded  worse  than  hell,  so  much  the  fear 
Of  thunder  and  the  sword  of  Michael 
Wrought  still  within  them." 

[July  30.] 
THE    FIFTY-FOURTH    AT    FORT   "WAGNER. 

The  news  from   Charleston   has   a  thrilling   interest  for 
many  here  in  Massachusetts  who  have  been  watching  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  297 

career  of  the  first  of  the  Massachusetts  black  regiments, 
and  of  their  brave  colonel.  There  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt, 
I  understand,  of  the  death  of  Col.  Shaw.  It  seems  but  a 
da}'  or  two  since  his  slight  and  pluck}'  figure  was  seen  in  our 
streets  at  the  head  of  his  men.  He  was  evidentl}-,  from  his 
looks,  a  man  of  character;  and,  indeed,  it  took  a  man  of 
character  at  that  time  to  be  a  suitable  commander  of  a  black 
regiment.  The  Fifty-fourth  have  followed  up  the  victory 
which  their  compeers  at  Port  Hudson  won.  Men  might 
possiblj'  cavil  at  Montgomer3''s  raids ;  but  fame  won  as 
theirs  has  been,  on  the  perilous  edge  of  battle,  is  not  to  be 
disputed  about.  Col.  Higginson  of  the  First  South  Carolina, 
who  is  at  home,  suffering  from  a  slight  wound,  and  looking 
rather  thin  and  worn,  says  that  there  is  no  controversy  on  the 
coast  now  about  the  colored  soldier's  position,  and  apparently 
no  feeling  against  him  on  the  part  of  an}'  white  regiment  or 
white  soldier.  He  has  fought  his  way  into  recognition. 
There  was  never  any  excuse  for  the  scepticism  as  to  the 
negro's  capacity  for  fighting.  The  slaveholder  never  showed 
it,  and  never  had  it. 

Years  ago,  Henry  A.  AYise  said  in  a  letter  to  South-side 
Adams, ^  "  With  white  officers,  I  would  fight  a  regiment  of 
them  against  any  foreign  troops  which  could  land  on  our 
shores.  Thoy  are  faithful,  and  they  are  brave,  and  more 
disinterested  than  the  white  man.  They  are  joyous  in  tem- 
perament, and  patient,  as  their  nerves  are  coarse  and 
strong."  And  he  followed  up  this  -with  the  following  elabo- 
rate eulogy  on  the  race  as  a  whole :  ' '  The  descendants  of 
Africa  now  here  in  bondage  in  the  United  States  are,  en 
masse.,  as  a  Avhole  wealth  of  people,  in  bodily  comfort, 
morality,  enlightenment,  Christianity,  and  actual  personal 
freedom,  worth  more  than  their  mother-country  entire,  not 
oxcei)ting  the  Europeans  there  combined  with  the  natives." 
What  Africa  is  worth  per  foot  or  acre,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
say ;  but  Wise's  estimate  of  the  vidue  of  the  negro  race  is  a 

1  llcv.  ISTehemiah  Adams. 


■298  ''WARRINGTON:" 

high  one.  If  he  had  said  worth  more  than  the  whole  Cop- 
perhead part}',  he  would  have  greatly  under-estimated  their 
worth.  Read  this  extract  from  Wise,  a  proslaver}'  Demo- 
crat, in  connection  with  the  speech  of  Montgomer}'  Blair  at 
Concord,  N.H.,  and  say  if  Wise  is  not  the  more  decent  and 
liberal  man  of  the  two.  The  idea  of  expatriating  men  worth 
more  than  the  whole  continent  of  Africa,  population  included, 
is  worthy  o\\\j  of  a  lunatic. 

The  theory  of  a  natural  antagonism  and  insuperable  preju- 
dice on  the  part  of  the  white  man  against  the  black  is  a  pure 
fiction.  Ignorant  men  are  alwa^-s  full  of  prejudices  and 
antagonisms ;  and  color  has  nothing  to  do  Avith  it.  Men 
who  are  themselves  habitually  kicked  and  snubbed  like  to 
have  the  right  and  the  opportunity  to  kick  and  snub  some- 
bod}'  below  them.  In  the  South,  an  intelligent  negro  looks 
with  mental  and  moral  disgust  upon  the  half-witted  ' '  crack- 
er ' '  who  revenges  himself  by  taking  advantage  of  the  first 
chance  he  gets  to  bu}-  his  colored  superior.  Such  events 
as  Port  Hudson  and  Morris  Island  have  latel}^  witnessed 
have  abolished  a  great  deal  of  artificial  prejudice  between  the 
two  classes  of  soldiers.  White  men  and  black  men,  wounded 
in  the  late  fearful  assault  on  Fort  Wagner,  were  seen  helping 
each  other  away  from  the  field,  and  attending  upon  each 
other  in  the  hospital  afterwards. 


[Dec.  ]0.] 

JOHN    M.    FORBES     AND     THE    COMMITTEE     ON    THE     ENLISTMENT 
OF   COLORED   TROOPS. 

It  is  curious  to  see  a  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Enlistment  of  Colored  Troops.  John  M.  Forbes  is  its  chair- 
man, — a  man  of  headlong  and  driving  energ}^,  long  time  an 
abolitionist,  and,  more  than  any  other  man,  the  confidential 
adviser  and  helper  of  Gov.  Andrew.  He  attends  to  every 
thing,  —  writes  letters,  raises  mone}'  (liberall}-  contributing 
himself) ,  sends  messages  to  Washington  to  direct  and  or- 
ganize congressional  opinion,  makes  or  persuades  editors  to 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  299 

write  leading  articles  to  enforce  bis  views,  hunts  up  mem- 
bers of  Congress  in  vacation-time,  dines  them  at  the  club, 
and  sends  them  back  full  of  practical  suggestions,  which 
re-appear  in  bills  and  resolves  the  month  after.  Amos  A. 
Lawrence  is  alwa3-s  there,  —  not  originally- an  abolitionist,  but 
a  conservative,  —  fearfGl  that  something  will  be  done  con- 
trar3'  to  law  and  constitution  ;  tr3-ing  to  train  the  cannon-ball 
of  war  so  that  it  will  "  come  round  the  cornfield  and  the  hill 
of  vines,  honoring  the  hoi}'  bounds  of  property  ' '  (see  Cole- 
ridge's "  "Wallenstein,"  and  pardon  me  if  I  have  perverted 
the  exquisite  illustration),  but  as  zealous  and  liberal  as 
any  other  man  in  the  great  work  of  raising  men,  without 
distinction  of  color,  to  fight  the  foes  of  American  nationalit}-. 
There  is  F.  W.  Bird,  coming  in  from  his  paper-mill  at  Wal- 
pole ;  and  Judge  Russell,  ubiquitous,  who,  they  sa^-,  holds 
courts,  and  gives  able  charges  :  but  I  can  hardly  believe  it ; 
for  he  does  every  thing  else,  and  knows  ever}-  thing  going  on 
in  the  city.  Co-operating  with  these  are  Edward  Atkinson 
(one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  State,  and  particularly  wise 
on  the  whole  subject  of  cotton  and  emancipation  and  free 
labor),  S.  G.  Ward  the  banker,  Alpheus  Hardy,  Dr.  Beck 
of  Cambridge,  Henr^-  B.  Rogers,  George  William  Bond, 
George  L.  Stearns,  and  so  on. 


[Dec.  31.] 

THIRD    YEAR    OF   THE    REBELLION. 

Well,  so  ends  the  third  j-ear  of  the  Rebellion,  if  we  reckon, 
without  precise  reference  to  days,  fi-om  the  beginning.  This 
puts  one  in  mind  of  a  mot  of  one  of  our  Supreme-Court 
judges.  On  the  da}'  when  wc  heard  of  the  fall  of  Sumter 
before  Gillmore's  batteries,  some  one  told  Judge  II.  of  it, 
and  added  the  remark,  that  "  this  is  the  beginning  of  the 
end."  —  "I  think,"  said  the  judge,  "it  is  the  end  of  the 
beginning."  Tlie  actual  beginning,  I  suppose,  was  the  se- 
cession of  South  Carolina ;  perhaps  the  resignation  of  the 
first  United-States  officer  who  threw  up  his  office  in  Charles- 


300  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ton ;  and  this,  I  believe,  was  the  day  after  the  telegraph 
announced  Lincoln's  election. 

If  South  Carolina  gets  into  Congress  again,  she  must  be 
treated  as  a  free  State,  and  compelled,  b}-  the  main  strength 
of  the  country,  to  obey  its  laws  as  other  States  are  com- 
pelled to  obey  its  laws.  But,  as  *a  measure  of  practical 
safet}-,  neither  South  Carolina  nor  an}'  other  rebel  State 
ought  to  be  allowed  a  representative  in  either  house  of 
Congress  until  the  practical  extinguishment  of  slavery  has 
followed  its  legal  and  official  death.  Theorizing  aside,  this 
is  the  only  path  to  safet}' ;  for  slaveholders  arc  such  a  per- 
fidious race  by  nature  and  habit,  that  they  cannot  be  trusted. 
We  must  raze  the  institution  of  slavery  to  its  foundations. 
As  long  as  the  fire  is  smouldering  and  smoking,  the  neigh- 
boring buildings  are  in  danger ;  and,  as  long  as  the  chimneys 
are  left  standing,  our  children  cannot  play  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  nuisance  is  not  wholly  abated  until  the  rubbish 
is  removed,  and  a  new  structure  erected ;  for  even  an  unoc- 
cupied lot  in  an  eligible  place  is  an  offence  to  our  utilitarian 
ideas,  if  to  no  others. 

It  will  be  demonstrated,  before  this  national  struggle  is 
over,  that  New  England  is  the  home  of  order  and  Imo,  as 
well  as  of  liberty.  Hers  is  the  brain  of  the  nation  ;  and  the 
nation  cannot  do  without  it.  The  thieving  digits  of  Missis- 
sippi and  the  hand  of  South  Carolina,  useful  only  to  grasp 
and  wield  the  slave-whip,  can  be  spared,  at  least  until  they 
learn  more  useful  and  honest  vocations.  Palmer  makes  patent 
legs,  and,  for  aught  I  know,  can  contrive  a  patent  digester 
and  belly  for  the  country,  to  supply  the  absence  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana  ;  but  New-England  intellect  cannot  be  spared. 

Far  distant  be  the  day  when  Massachusetts  shall  be  found 
to  have  lost  her  voice  on  such  an  occasion  as  this  ;  when  the 
gazers,  as  they  mournfully  turn  away  their  eyes  from  her, 
shall  sa}',  — 

"  The  watchman's  trumpet-voice  is  still, 
The  warder  silent  on  the  hill." 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  301 

[Nov.  10.] 
PRES.    LINCOLN    RE-ELECTED. 

Now  that  Pres.  Lincoln's  re-election  has  finally  squelched 
out  the  Democratic  party,  there  is  great  reason  to  hope  that 
a  ver}'  large  number  of  the  men  who  have  voted  with  it  will 
cease  to  wage  a  factious  opposition  to  the  war  and  the  prog- 
ress of  events,  and  join  with  the  Republicans  in  a  patriotic 
effort  to  restore  the  Union,  without,  at  the  same  time,  attempt- 
ing to  save  slavery  from  destruction.  Many  of  the  leaders 
have  loved  and  defended  slavery-  merel3'  because  the  alliance 
with  the  slaveholders  has  been  profitable  to  them  ;  but  it 
does  seem  as  if  the  most  obstinate  doughface  must  at  last 
see  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  made  by  cringing  and 
subserviency,  and  that  it  is  more  profitable,  as  well  as  more 
comfortable,  to  stand  upright.  They  may  expose  the  holes  in 
tlieir  clothes,  worn  b}'  the  abrasion  of  their  knees  with  the 
muddy  pavement ;  but  they  can  get  a  new  suit  on  tick,  if 
necessar}',  at  the  first  Republican  tailors,  and  their  appear- 
ance on  the  platform  will  be  welcomed  with  "tremendous 
cheers."  Winthrop  runs  home  on  Tuesday  night,  scrapes 
himself  with  a  potsherd  for  twenty-four  hours  to  get  olf  all 
traces  of  contact  with  the  party  which  went  into  the  fight 
declaring  the  war  "  a  failure,"  and  then  goes  to  the  Sailors' 
Fair  and  shouts  over  the  successes  of  Farragut,  Worden,  and 
Dupont ;  and  the  good-natured  people  shout  with  and  for  him. 
I  wonder  at  the  Board  of  Trade,  which  refused  to  have 
Halfmast  Fa^-  for  one  of  its  committee  of  arrangements  to 
receive  Capt.  Winslow.  Some  mistake  there,  which  will  be 
rectified  before  long.  Let  him  express  a  willingness  to  be 
loj'al,  and  there  will  be  plenty  of  Republicans  who  will  joy- 
full}'  send  him  a  letter,  asking  him  to  give  his  views  on  the 
political  questions  of  the  day.  No  troul)le  about  the  loaders. 
As  for  the  people,  emancipated  from  their  leaders,  they  will 
do  well  enough.  Luckily  the  people,  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  are  sound. 

The  Baltimore  platform  calls  for  the  extirpation  of  slavery, 


302  "WARBINGTON: " 

and  the  President's  ultimatum  is  its  abandonment.  Common 
sense  will  liave  to  fight  a  good  while,  and  with  a  good  deal  of 
vigor,  against  gradualism,  Louisiana  theories,  compensation, 
and  so  on  ;  but  it  is  read}'  for  all  this.  It  is  on  the  flood- 
tide  which  leads  to  fortune.  Every  conservative  theory  is 
proved  false  and  falser  da}^  by  day.  The  more  immediate 
abolition  is,  the  more  successful.  The  more  the  negroes  are 
let  alone,  the  more  they  prove  worthy  of  liberty.  As  soon 
as  people  find  out  that  they  are  men,  and  not  minors  and 
wards  subject  to  guardianship,  the  better  for  the  country. 
The  best  part  of  the  old  conservative  Whig  section  is  with 
the  Republican  partj^  now.  Indeed,  the  party  is  getting 
eminently  "respectable,"  without  losing,  I  think,  its  vigor 
and  progressiveness.  "The  Advertiser"  classifies  the  ex- 
governors,  giving  us  Lincoln,  Everett,  Boutwell,  Clifford, 
"Washburn,  Banks,  and  Gardner.  "Instinct  is  a  great 
matter:"  so  we  find  Brewster  and  Baker  and  Tenny  and 
Devereux,  and  Jonathan  Pierce,  and,  indeed,  about  all  the 
Know-Nothings  who  distinguished  themselves,  following 
Gardner  into  the  ranks  of  the  Copperhead  Democracy.^ 
Brewster  spoke  in  Dorchester  the  other  night ;  and  the 
papers  reported  that  his  remarks  were  interrupted  by  the 
music  of  a  brass  band.  This  must  be  a  mistake.  No  brass 
band  ever  yet  organized  could  drown  Brewster's  voice. 
Armstrong  might  try  his  six-hundred-pound  gun ;  but  I 
would  find  men  who  would  bet  on  Brewster  even  against 
that.  I  am  told  that  his  Dorchester  speech  was  heard  by 
the  farmers,  sitting  at  their  doorsteps,  as  far  off"  as  Lancaster 
in  Worcester  County,  and  Sandwich  on  the  Cape. 

[Nov.  1.] 
THE   LAST   OP   GEN.    GEORGE   B.    McCLELLAN. 

So  the  little  'un  is  disposed  of  at  last.  He  has  resigned, 
and  the'people  are  resigned.  Neither  on  the  Chicago  plat- 
form, nor  on  his  own,  will  the^^  have  any  thing  to  do  with 

1  The  name  of  a  political  party  hostile  to  the  government. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  303 

him.  He  Avas  in  bad  compaii}',  —  to  wit,  with  Vallandigham  ; 
and  Vallandigham  was  also  in  bad  compan}^,  —  to  wit,  with 
him.  "  Little  Mac  "  —  what  a  humbug  he  was  !  and  so  ap- 
parently' unconscious  of  it :  — 

"  Great,  nor  knew  liow  great  he  was," 

as  Coleridge  sa3's  of  William  Tell.  How  queer,  that  this 
ridiculous  militar}-  and  political  eunuch  should  impose  upon 
so  many  people  for  so  many  months !  The  men  who  had 
him  in  charge  did  not  believe  in  him.  Sej'raour  knew  he  was 
a  humbug ;  so  did  Belmont  and  Fernando  Wood ;  probably 
Lunt  and  Hillard  and  Winthrop  knew  it  also :  but  they 
supposed  the  people  did  not  know  it.  They  reasoned  some- 
thing in  this  wa}^ :  "  The  people  have  turned  us  out  of  office, 
or  kept  us  out ;  ergo  the  people  arc  fools ;  ergo,  again,  it 
is  perfectly  safe  to  conclude  that  they  will  not  find  McClellau 
out ;  ergo  the  third,  we  shall  humbug  them  into  electing 
him."  A  slight  mistake.  The  people  clung  to  McClellau 
because  the  administration  clung  to  him  ;  and  the  administra- 
tion, not  having  faith  in  the  people's  instincts  and  intelli- 
gence, did  not  dare  to  tell  the  truth  about  him,  and  send  him 
packing,  even  after  his  incompetency  had  been  discovered. 
Even  so  late  as  September,  still  lacking  faith  in  the  people, 
it  sent  old  Blair  to  New  York  to  buy  him  off.  What  if  the 
silly  creature  had  been  suddenly  inspired  as  idiots  some- 
times are,  and  had  jumped  at  old  Blair's  offer?  Fearful 
thought!  Now,  let  us  hope,  we  are  avcU  rid  of  him.  Wliat 
will  he  do?  He  can  "  orate  ;  "  but  who  wants  to  hear  him? 
He  has  been  in  the  railroad  business :  perhaps  the  care  of 
some  small  depot  on  an  unfrequented  branch  might  not  over- 
task his  powers.  He  can  write  bcautifull}' :  would  he  do  for 
a  reporter  on  a  weekly  newspaper?  Alas!  I  fear  nothing 
suited  to  the  grandeur  of  his  aspirations  can  be  found  for 
him  here.  Who  knows  but  that,  in  the  world  yonder,  hesita- 
tion will  be  a  virtue,  yawning  a  grace,  and  what  we  poor 
mortals  deem  stupidity  the  highest  work  of  genius  ? 


304  "  WAHEINGTON: ' 


CHAPTER  X. 
RESULTS  OF  PRES.  LESTCOLN'S  DEATH. 

[Extract  from  Diary  of  1865.] 
ASSASSINATION   OF   PKES.    LINCOLN. 

April  2.  —  Fall  of  Richmond. 

April  9.  — Surrender  of  Lee's  armj-. 

April  14.  — Assassination  of  Pres.  Lincoln,  and  attempt 
to  assassinate  Secretaiy  Seward. 

Events  enough  for  one  fortnight.  There  has  been  but 
little  business,  legislative  or  other,  since  the  1st  inst.  ;  but 
yesterday  was  the  day  of  da3's.  Probabl}'  never  in  the 
history  of  the  country  was  there  such  a  sensation  throughout 
all  classes  of  the  community.  All  men  and  women  were 
aghast  with  horror,  and  almost  speechless.  Men  who  always 
gabble  rushed  up  to  the  Tremont  Temple  before  noon,  and 
made  speeches.  As  if  there  should  be  a  public  meeting  half 
an  hour  after  an  earthquake  to  celebrate  such  an  event  as 
that !  The  streets  were  crowded  all  da^' ;  and  in  "Washington 
Street,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  "Journal,"  "Herald," 
and  "Transcript"  offices,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  make 
one's  wa}'  along.  There  was  no  speech  but  ' '  horrible ! ' ' 
"dreadful!"  "awful!"  "cruel!"  with  occasional  expres- 
sions of  a  desire  for  more  strong  measures  against  the  rebels. 

In  the  afternoon,  we  had  our  usual  dinner  at  Young's. 
There  were  present  the  Governor,^  Mr.  F.  W.  Bird,  Dr.  S.  G. 

1  John  A.  Andrew. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  305 

Howe,  Dr.  Estes  Howe,  Elizur  "Wright,  C.  W.  Slack, 
Charles  Field,  Mr.  Mack  of  Belmont,  Tom  Drew  just  from 
Savannah,  Mr.  Ha3-es  of  "  The  Savannah  Republican," 
Darrah,  J.  M.  S.  Williams,  Oakes  Ames,  M.C.,  E.  L. 
Pierce,  Major  Burt,  James  M.  Stone,  Major  George  L. 
Stearns,  AV.  L.  G.  Greene,  —  a  pretty  good  repi'esentation  of 
the  radical  Republicans.  A  good  deal  of  talk  about  Andrew 
Johnson,  and  a  general  disposition  to  think  well  and  hope 
much  of  him.  The  strong  tendency  of  events  at  Richmond, 
since  its  occupation,  towards  reconstruction  on  simply  a 
Union  basis,  without  any  regard  whatever  to  security  against 
the  future  supremacy  of  proslavery  influences  throughout 
the  whole  South,  has  disposed  many  to  think  that  the  country 
may  be  better  off'  under  Johnson  than  under  Lincoln.  It 
is  known  that  Johnson  is  a  terrible  hater  of  the  rebel  leaders, 
and  wants  them  hung ;  has  always  been  against  Lincoln's 
amnesty  schemes. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  death  of  Lincoln  looks  to  me 
like  an  unmixed  evil.  In  the  first  place,  he  had  the  confi- 
dence of  the  country  as  no  man  since  Washington  has  had 
it.  With  him  in  the  chair,  the  Democratic  part}'  was  pre- 
paring finally  to  give  up  the  ghost.  Johnson  has  no  such 
mastery ;  and  I  fear  an  immediate  revival  of  that  partj', 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  all  Republican  divisions. 
Second,  I  don't  think  wc  want  a  reign  of  blood  and  terror. 
Some  few  of  the  rebel  leaders  ought  to  be  tried  and  executed 
with  due  formalities  of  law  ;  but  there  should  be  no  persecu- 
tion, or  spirit  of  retaliation ;  but  we  should  have,  instead,  a 
settled  and  firm  polic}'  of  reconstruction  on  the  basis  of 
justice  to  the  negro. 

Lincoln  had  no  adequate  idea  of  what  ought  to  be  done  ; 
but  I  fear  Johnson  has  still  less.  Lincoln  was,  at  least, 
master  of  himself,  and  master  of  the  situation  :  Johnson 
may  be  the  tool  of  anybody  and  everybody.  Lincoln  we 
have  summered  and  wintered  for  four  yeai's,  and  knew 
exactly  what  he  was :  Johnson  is  wholly  untried  ;  and  his 
behavior  on  and  before  the  4th  of  March  was  not  to  his 
credit. 


306  "  WARRINGTON: " 

I  don't  believe,  nowever,  that  there  can  be  any  serious 
and  permanent  drawback  to  the  progress  of  right  opinions. 
If  Lincoln  had  been  killed  in  1862,  anarchj-  would  or  might 
have  followed,  at  least  for  a  time.  Now  ever}-  State  is  in 
loj'al  hands,  the  rebel  armies  are  scattered,  and  peace  must 
speedily  ensue.     "We  will  hope  for  the  best. 

Booth  the  assassin  is  a  ranting  and  bad  actor.  I  expect 
it  will  be  found  that  the  conspiracy',  if  a  conspirac}'  at  all, 
is  confined  to  00I3'  a  few  persons,  — desperate,  rattle-brained, 
half-craz}-  copperheads  and  secessionists.  But,  in  the  popu- 
lar estimation,  Jeff  Davis, ^  Lee,  &  Co.,  will  be  held  responsi- 
ble ;  and  it  is  true  enough,  that  the  murder  is  the  legitimate 
result  of  the  teachings  of  the  Richmond  newspapers.  After 
all,  it  is  not  very  strange  that  four  years  of  such  war  as  this 
countr}'  has  witnessed  should  have  bred  one  or  two  assassins. 
It  would  have  been  an  exception  to  civil  wars,  if  it  had  not. 

The  spu'it  of  reveuge  is  rising  in  the  communit}' :  indeed, 
the  feeling  occasioned  by  the  murder  of  the  President  has 
continuall}'  deepened  up  to  to-da}'.  I  think  it  far  more 
intense  than  on  Saturda}-.  As  the  newspapers  are  pored 
over  for  each  important  or  trivial  detail,  the  sensation  in 
every  one's  heart  increases.  The  speeches,  some  of  which 
are  ver}'  able  and  remarkable,  tend  to  heighten  the  feeling 
ver}'  much.  Gov.  Andrew's  message  on  Mondaj'  was 
admirable.  Charles  G.  Loring's,  at  Faneuil  Hall,  was  very 
remarkable  in  man}'  of  its  features,  and  is  worth  preserving 
for  its  thoughtful  contemplation  of  the  great  issues  now 
before  the  country,  as  the  Governor's  is  for  its  solemn, 
funereal  eloquence,  and  nice  anal3'sis  of  Lincoln's  character. 
Butler,  D.  S.  Dickinson,  and  others  in  New  York,  have  fitly 
spoken. 

Johnson's  speeches  to  the  Illinois  delegation  and  others 
tend  to  satisfy  those  who  hope  for  revenge.  He  means  to 
hang  traitors,  and  doubtless  will  do  so.     But  no  word  yQt  of 

1  Mr.  Sumner  told  "  Warrington  "  that  Mr.  Seward  told  him  that 
tlie  government  had  positive  evidence  of  the  complicity  of  Jeff  Davis 
in  the  assassination  of  ^Ir.  Lincoln. 


PEX -PORTRAITS.  307 

justice,  or  of  the  true  basis  of  I'econstructioa  and  settlement. 
It  is  needful  that  more  or  less  of  the  traitors  should  suffer 
on  the  gallows  ;  but  it  is  indispensable  that  there  should  be 
at  once  a  beginning  of  a  social  reconstruction  of  the  South 
on  the  basis  of  the  rights  of  man,  on  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  that  "all  men  are  created  equal."  I  do  not 
ask  that  Andrew  Johnson  should  hastily  announce  this  pur- 
pose :  it  is  sufficient  if  he  entertains  it,  if  he  will  turn  his 
face  and  his  thoughts  in  the  right  direction. 

Yesterda}'  I  saw  R.  ]\I.  Field,  manager  of  the  Boston 
Museum.  Booth  the  murderer  played  there  five  weeks  not 
man}'  months  ago.  Field  saj's  he  was  "rather  a  rowd}-," 
though  I  did  not  understand  that  he  was  conspicuous  for 
rowd3'ism.  He  had  a  passion  for  eclat  and  notoriety ;  and 
Field  said  it  made  no  great  difference  to  him  what  he  did,  so 
he  obtained  these  brilliant  scenic  effects,  A  great  crime 
would  be  as  welcome  to  him  as  am*  other  method  of  getting 
fame.  He  has  succeeded  this  time  ;  for  the  shot  he  fired 
has  been  "heard  round  the  world,"  or  will  be  ;  and  its  con- 
sequences no  man  can  conjecture.  It  may  topple  down 
European  thrones,  and  change  the  apparent  destinies  of 
nations.  It  must  make  a  great  change  in  this  countr}-,  and, 
I  still  fear,  a  disastrous  one.  With  four  3-ears  of  prudent 
leadership  under  a  man  whose  popularity'  was  unbounded, 
and  who  could  have  been,  if  it  were  necessar}-,  re-elected  in 
1868,  the  country  might  have  been  consolidated.  Western 
jealousy  of  the  East,  as  well  as  Southern  hatred  of  the 
North,  would  have  been  softened,  and  things  brought  round 
again  to  their  old  relations.  I  doubt  Johnson's  power  to 
effect  this.  To  be  sure,  the  signs  are  favoral^le  now  :  the 
people  are  apparently  sensible  and  self-controlled,  and  are 
giving  that  confidence  and  support  to  the  new  President 
which  are  his  due  ;  but  tliere  is  a  mental  reservation  to  all 
this.  The}'  do  not  iinplicitl}'  trust.  Tliey  ask  one  another, 
"  What  do  you  think?  "     Tliey  are  not  sure  of  any  thing. 

However,  I  return  to  my  old  formula :  The  people  are  to 
be  trusted  ;  and  they  will  find  a  way  to  bring  order  out  of 
chaos. 


308  "WARRINGT02^:" 

[Aug.  10,  18G6.] 

THE     ARM-IN-ARM     CONVENTION. THE     PHILADELPHIA     POW- 
WOW. 

The}'  call  the  place  of  meeting  a  wigwam :  so  I  suppose 
this  name  is  allowable.  It  must  have  been  a  funny  sight 
to  see  the  Massachusetts  and  South-Carolina  delegations 
marching  in  arm-in-arm.  (AYere  they  handcuffed  together?) 
But  the  curious  thing  about  it  is,  that  the  South-Carolina 
men  are,  popularl}',  as  weak  as  our  own.  Gov.  Orr  does 
not  represent  South  Carolina.  "Wade  Hampton,  at  twent}'- 
four  hours'  notice,  almost  beat  him  for  the  chief  magistrac}' ; 
and  nobod}'  supposes  that  Orr  will  have  an}'  popularity  or 
power  after  the  State  gets  fully  reconstructed.  "Who  ever 
heard  of  Gen.  McGowan  of  South  Carolina,  who  marched 
with  "Gen."  Swift  of  Massachusetts?  I'll  venture  to  say 
his  political  influence  will  prove  to  be  as  near  nothing  as 
Swift's.  To  go  further,  take  Gen.  Dix,  a  thorough  old 
granny,  superannuated  and  effete,  about  as  much  so  as  Tom 
Ewing,  who  represents  the  smartest  State  in  the  Union,  — 
Ohio.  The  fact  that  they  had  to  take  Doolittle  for  president 
speaks  volumes  for  the  weakness  of  the  convention.  It  was 
a  wise  choice ;  for  Doolittle,  though  a  contemptible  syco- 
phant, is  personally  respectable,  has  a  loyal  record  through 
the  war,  and  is  a  man  of  fair  abilities  ;  but  everybody  recog- 
nizes him  as  a  tool  of  the  Executive,  as  much  so  as  Randall, 
or  even  Simon  Hanscom.  Maine  sends  "Weston  (lobby  agent), 
and  Crosby,  an  old  "^''hig  candidate  for  governor,  supposed 
to  have  been  dead  ten  years  ago.  New  Hampshire  sends 
her  old  regular  hard-shell  Copperheads,  and  does  wisely  in 
that ;  for  they  represent  somebody.  Dixon  of  Connecticut 
has  to  go,  of  course.  Browning,  an  old  Whig  senator,  and 
now  a  claim-agent  and  pardon-broker,  —  stop  !  he  has  lately 
been  put  into  the  cabinet,  I  believe,  — represents  the  Illinois 
branch  of  the  new  party.  Ex-senator  Rice  is  dug  up  in 
Minnesota ;  and  the  sot  McDougal  stands  or  reels  for  Cali- 
fornia. If  you  go  South,  where  the  party  is  to  get  its  votes, 
if  anywhere,  you  find  matters  about  the  same. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  309 

Where  was  Rousseau,  the  favorite  son  of  Kentucky? 
Was  he  squelched,  like  Vallandigham?  Garrett  Davis,  of 
all  men  in  the  State,  takes  the  lead.  William  A.  Graham, 
who  ran  for  Vice-President  with  Scott  fourteen  3'ears  ago 
("Tar  and  Feathers  "  Webster  called  the  ticket,  placing  the 
Vice-President  first),  represents  North  Carolina.  He  has 
not  had  a  particle  of  influence  there  for  more  than  ten  3ears. 
Ben  Perry  divides  with  Orr  the  leadership  of  South  Carolina. 
And  so  on.  Val.  is  probably,  on  the  whole,  the  truest  repre- 
sentative of  the  principles  of  the  part}'  in  the  whole  countrj' ; 
better  even  than  Mayor  Monroe  of  New  Orleans,  or  Johnson 
himself.  Monroe  allows  his  principles  to  cany  him  too  far ; 
that  is  to  say,  for  the  present.  The  time  has  not  yet  quite 
arrived  for  wholesale  massacre  of  Union  men  in  the  South. 
Monroe  is  premature.  Johnson,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
loyal  during  the  war,  and,  of  course,  cannot  fully  represent  a 
part}'  whose  principal  support  must  come  from  rebels  lately 
in  arms  against  the  country.  Vallandigham  was  not  in  arms 
against  the  government,  simply  because  he  lived  in  Ohio, 
and  had  not  courage  to  leave  it.  He  was  a  traitor,  without 
having  committed  the  overt  act.  To  insist  that  such  a  man 
should  decline  to  be  a  delegate  was  not  onl}'  a  gross  wrong 
to  him,  but  a  stupid  blunder. 

If  Thurlow  AVeed  got  up  that  melodramatic  spectacle  of 
"Gen."  Swift  and  Gen.  IMcGowan,  and  Gen.  Couch  and 
Gov.  Orr,  marching  along,  he  is  duller  than  that  "fat  weed 
that  rots  on  Lethe's  wharf."  R.  S.  Spofford  is  said  to  have 
been  the  originator  of  the  idea ;  and  it  is,  like  him,  sensa- 
tional. But  such  things,  in  order  to  have  an}'  eflfect,  must 
be  natural,  and  not  spectacular.  I  would  have  walked  to 
Philadelphia,  albeit  not  a  great  walker,  to  see  that  ridicu- 
lous sight,  — 

'"Twas  worth  ten  jears  of  peaceful  life, 
One  glance  at  their  array." 

I  should  have  missed  the  erudite  Winthrop,  and  the  expe- 
rienced Ashmun,  and  Quincy  Adimis,  and  Franklin  Haven  ; 
but  I   should   have   seen  the  old   war-horse  of  Worcester- 


310  "WARRINGTON:" 

county  Democracy,  Isaac  Davis,  and  Spofford  himself,  and 
Josiali  Dunham,  and  the  hero  of  Big  Bethel,  Gen.  Pierce  of 
Freetown,  and  Matthew  Field,  and  Ide  of  Taunton,  who  has 
turned  his  coat  again  for  a  post-office,  and  "Gen."  Swift, 
and  the  immaculate  Woodbury,  and  Robert  B.  Hall,  ex- 
humed for  this  particular  occasion,  and  Albert  Fearing  and 
William  Bates,  the  residuar}'  legatees  of  the  old  Whig  party, 
and  Aspinwall  and  Prince,  the  old  secretaries  of  the  State 
Committee,  and  the  virtuous  Colbj^  of  Newburj-port,  and  the 
candid  Northend,  and  Bates  and  Aver}^  old  wheel-horses  of 
the  Democratic  organization,  and  the  oratorical  Alger,  and 
De  Witt,  one  of  Worcester  Count^^'s  meanest  sons,  and, 
lastly,  my  old  friend,  Lieut. -Gov.  Wright  of  Hinsdale,  per- 
haps more  widely  known  as  "  Mountaineer."     Alas,  alas  ! 

"A  mountain  stream  that  ends  in  mud 
Methinlvs  were  melancholy," 

I  wonder  w^ho  "Mountaineer"  was  paired  off  against  in 
that  wondrous  procession.  Perhaps  the  gentleman  who 
served  out  rations  to  our  imprisoned  soldiers  at  Anderson- 
ville.  Oh,  it  would  have  been  a  sight  for  a  lifetime  !  I 
suppose  they  had  some  sort  of  music ;  perhaps  a  song  after 
some  old  cavalier  tune,  like  Browning's  :  — 

*' Sumner  to  hell,  and  his  obsequies  knell; 
Serve  Stevens  and  Boutwell  and  Greeley  as  well. 
Rebels,  good  cheer !     Office  is  near ! 
All  ye  good  Copperheads,  keep  we  not  here. 
Marching  along,  fifty-score  strong, 
Patriot  gentlemen,  singing  this  song." 

I  notice  that  the  Southern  talkers  at  Philadelphia  unani- 
mously and  vehemently  assert  that  their  constituents  "  accept 
the  situation."  No,  they  don't.  They*  don't  even  know 
what  the  "  situation"  is.  As  far  as  thej^  do  compi'ehend  it, 
they  are  very  much  indisposed  to  accept  it,  except  the  office- 
seeking  and  office-holding  branch,'  who  will  accept  anj^  thing. 
The  "  situation  "  is  what  the  people  choose  to  make  it.  The 
convicted  murderer  might  as  well  hope  to'  escape  sentence 
and  execution  b}'  crying  out,  after  the  verdict  is  rendered. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  311 

"Don't  go  any  farther,  judge!  I  accept  the  situation.  I 
acknowledge  you  and  the  jury  have  got  the  best  of  it." 
This  won't  do.  Johnson  may  pardon  and  release  the  chief 
murderer  at  Fortress  Monroe,  as  he  has  pardoned  and 
released  his  subordinates  all  over  the  Southern  country  ;  but 
he  cannot  restore  to  them  political  power.  Slavery  is  abol- 
ished. The  old  robber-castle,  from  which  issued  the  public 
enemy  to  burn  and  slaj-,  is  dismantled  ;  but  there  are  plenty 
of  caves  and  dens  where  he  still  lies  in  wait  for  the  unsus- 
pecting traveller.  The  whole  Southern  country  has  got  to 
be  reformed.  The  "  situation  "  means  decency,  civilization, 
Christianit}-,  genuine  democracy.  The  armies  of  Grant  and 
Sherman  were  but  pioneers.  Thej^  have  broken  up  the 
wilderness,  destro^'ed  the  worst  dens,  purified  some  of  the 
foulest  places  ;  but  what  is  this  foul  stench  from  Memphis, 
this  smell  of  blood  from  New  Orleans?  Accept  the  situa- 
tion indeed  !  What  sa}'  the  Union  men  of  Louisiana?  What 
say  Hamilton  of  Texas,  and  Stokes  of  Tennessee  ?  And  what 
think  those  dusky  millions  who  cannot  speak  to  us  in  conven- 
tions and  addresses,  but  whose  pra^'ers  to  God  go  up  hourly 
for  the  complete  realization  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  golden 
promise  ? 

[Jtone  28,  18G7.] 

ANDREW  Johnson's  anAXD  presidential  tour. 

"  There  is  fun  to  a  Curnwallis,"  says  Ilosea  Biglow  ;  but 
Ilosea  in  his  CornwalUs  days  never  saw  such  fun  as  he  will 
see  if  he  accompanies  the  President.  It  is  Pratt  and  Mel- 
len  ^  on  a  gigantic  scale  ;  the  whole  nation  looking  on  while 
its  chief  magistrate  exhibits  himself  to  the  amusement  of 
the  laughers,  and  the  consternation  of  the  sober  men,  of  the 
whole  human  race.  If  it  were  possible  to  imagine  that  the 
Almight}'  Ruler  of  the  universe  liad  gone  mad,  had  reversed 
all  his  laws,  and  turned  tlie  world  upside  down  and  inside 
out,  the  spectacle  now  on  exhibition  would  consistently  be 

1  Bogus  presidential  candidates. 


312  "WARRINGTON:" 

explained ;  not  otherwise.  We  are  passing  the  last  and 
crudest  ordeal.  We  have  withstood  rebellion,  and  war,  and 
foreign  hostility,  and  domestic  discontent :  can  we  withstand 
inextinguishable  laughter,  and  the  derision  of  the  civilized 
world?  To  think  of  a  great  people,  which  has,  within  a  3-ear 
and  a  half,  established  its  position  as  second  to  none  among 
the  great  nations  of  the  earth,  allowing  itself  to  be  represented 
in  its  greatest  cities,  and  through  all  its  newspapers,  b^'  a 
man  who  is  fitter  for  a  cage  in  a  mad-house  than  for  the  office 
he  holds  !  There  are  only  two  classes  of  men  who  can  look 
on  with  patience,  —  those  whose  optimism  is  inextinguisha- 
ble, or,  if  you  please,  whose  faith  never  flinches ;  and,  sec- 
ond, those  who  don't  care  a  "  continental "  what  does  happen 
to  the  countr}^  the  world,  or  themselves. 

That  grim  old  humorist,  Thomas  Carlyle,  will  have  a  jolly 
time  over  this  affair.  Having  long  ago  given  up  all  hope 
of  the  world,  this  Andy  Johnson  comes  just  in  time  to 
confirm  his  predictions  of  the  approaching  and  everlasting 
smash.  "  Continents  of  empty  vapor,  of  greedy  self-con- 
ceits, commonplace  hearsa3's,  and  indistinct  loomings  of  a 
sordid  chaos  within  him,"  —  Carl3-le  described  Johnson's 
speeches  long  ago,  and  drew  the  most  dismal  forebodings 
from  such  oratory.  I  am  by  no  means  sure,  however,  that 
Carl3le's  undisguised  admiration  for  first-class  murderers 
when  clothed  in  official  or  regal  robes  ma3^  not  reconcile  him 
even  to  Johnson,  windy  and  chaotii^as  his  talk  is.  He  is 
a  "doer"  as  well  as  a  "talker:"  wdtness  New  Orleans. 
The  telegraph  compels  him  to  be  brief.  To  the  rebel  attor- 
ney-general of  Louisiana  he  says,  "Usurpation  will  not  be 
tolerated."  Herron  reads  the  cipher  correctly,  "Murder 
the  convention ; ' '  and  he  goes  to  his  work.  To  the  rebel 
lieutenant-governor  he  says,  "The  military  will  sustain 
3'ou."  And  Voorhees  reads  the  cipher  correctly,  "  You 
have  fall  liberty  to  kill."  If  Jeff  Davis  is  responsible  for 
Andersonville,  much  more  is  Andrew  Johnson  responsible 
for  the  murder  of  Dostie  and  his  fellow-Unionists.  The 
hand    he   waves  to-da}--  towards    the    negro-killers   of   the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  313 

Five  Points  is  reel  with  the  blood  of  the  black  men  of  New 
Orleans.  Let  Carhle  be  comforted.  Here  is  a  stump-orator, 
one  of  the  vrindiest  and  foolishest,  who  can,  upon  occasion, 
do  something  besides  talking.  But  no  great  harm  will  come 
of  his  speeches  in  the  North.  The  States  he  is  to  pass 
through  have  loyal  governors ;  and,  though  it  is  possible 
that  the  polic}'  men  of  New  York  may  feel  encouraged  to 
kill  a  few  black  men  in  honor  of  this  back-handed  Moses, 
Gov.  Fenton  and  Gov.  Curtin  and  Gov.  Cox  and  Gov. 
Oglesby  will,  no  doubt,  be  able  to  prevent  any  very  exten- 
sive demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  in  that  direction. 

This  tour  is  merel}'  a  show  ;  and  Randall  is  the  Van  Am- 
burgh.  Some  young  men  who  were  at  Manomet^  last  week 
had  a  caravan-song,  one  verse  of  which  ran  thus  :  — 

"  This  is  the  roaring  lion: 

You'd  better  keej)  shy  of  him,  boys; 
For,  when  lie  gets  into  a  fit  of  rage, 
He  makes  the  following  noise." 

And  here  went  forth  a  vociferation  unpresentable  to  human 
eye  by  any  or  all  of  the  letters  of  our  alphabet,  but  which 
might  be  exhibited  in  the  "  visible  speech  "  of  the  English- 
man who  has  latel}'  discovered  a  new  on?,  or  pictorially 
b}-  a  woodcut  like  that  representing  Ben  Hardin's  voice  in 
the  Comic  Almanac  of  thirty  years  ago,  —  a  confused  tan- 
gle of  sounds,  intended  to  simulate  the  roar  of  the  enraged 
"king  of  beasts."  This  is  Johnson's  speech.  It  is  "the 
following  noise;"  and  that  is  the  only  description  you  can 
give  of  it.  And  you  will  have  the  same  noise  telegraphed 
from  every  stopping-place  on  the  route  to  Chicago,  and  back 
again  to  Washington.  The  great  representative  of  Ameri- 
can scoundrelism  is  on  exhibition  for  the  next  ten  days. 
Price  four  cents  a  day  ;  or,  if  3-ou  bu}'  "  The  Herald,"  two. 
Who  would  go  to  the  theatre  or  museum,  and  pay  a  quarter 
or  half  a  dollar,  when  such  an  entertainment  can  be  so 
cheaply*  got  ? 

1  "  "Warrington's  "  summer-resort. 


314  "WARRINGTON:" 

You  sliould  have  seen  the  President  in  Boston  bowing  and 
scraping  to  the  crowd.  The  grand  master  of  ceremonies 
must  have  had  a  dreadful  time  of  it,  holding  an  umbrella 
over  the  august  head  of  the  distinguished  guest.  Instead  of 
sitting  quietlj'  in  his  seat,  raising  his  hat  to  the  ladies,  and 
occasionall}'  bowing  to  the  right  and  left,  Johnson  stood 
up  as  well  as  he  could,  which  was  but  poorlj-,  under  the 
umbrella,  and  sprawled  about  from  one  side  to  the  other, 
scooping  his  hat  this  wa}'  and  that.  I  thought  of  the  old 
nurscrj'-lines  :  — 

"  He  began  to  compliment, 
And  I  began  to  grin : 
How  do  you  do  ?  and  bow  do  you  do  ? 
And  how  do  you  again?" 

He  got  very  little  applause,  however.  Near  the  Custom 
House,  a  man  stationed  himself  with  a  huge  bouquet  of  flowers 
and  a  complimentary  note,  purporting  to  be  from  the  clerks 
in  the  sub-treasurv,  though  I  hear  thej'  had  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  The  poor  fellow  stood  as  long  as  he  could,  and  then 
some  one  kindh'  handed  him  a  chair  ;  and  ' '  he  sot,  and  sot, 
and  sot,"  till  the  minutes  became  hours.  Two  mortal  hours 
did  he  wait,  the  observed  of  all  observers  ;  but  the  great 
man  did  not  appear. 

"  The  sun  set,  but  set  not  bis  bppe; 
Stars  rose ;  bis  faith  was  earlier  up : 
Fixed  on  the  enormous  galaxy, 
Deeper  and  older  seemed  bis  eyes; 
And  matched  his  sufferance  sublime 
The  taciturnity  of  time." 

At  last  the  tail  end  of  the  procession  came,  and  the  patient 
old  fellow  secured  "the  victory  of  endurance  born."  The 
dispenser  of  patronage  was  before  him.  lie  rushed  up  to  the 
carriage,  handed  to  the  President  the  bouquet  and  the  com- 
pliments of  the  clerks,  and  sweatily  subsided  with  the  smiles 
of  the  great  chief  and  the  approbation  of  his  own  conscience 
—  let  us  hope.  If  the  President  fails  to  remember  this  ser- 
vice, he  is  harder  than  adamant.  And,  O  ye  senators  !  inter- 
pose not,  interfere  not,  I  beseech  3-e,  to  keep  the  poor  old 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  315 

office-seeker,  whoever  he  was,  from  securing  the  reward  of 
his  labors. 

But  what  if  Johnson  is  an  ass,  a  mule,  a  nuisance,  an  incu- 
bus, a  succubus?  The  Hon.  Mr.  "Wiseacre  thinks  he  has  not 
committed  a  "misdemeanor  ;  "  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Somebody- 
Else  thinks  it  won't  do  to  have  Ben  Wade  President  a  few 
weeks  ;  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Lord-Knows- Who  is  afraid  it  will 
have  a  bad  effect  on  politics  if  we  meddle  with  him  ;  and  the 
rich  and  ignorant  classes  of  State  and  Wall  Streets  fear  a 
rise  in  gold.  So  he  sta3-s,  and  Congress  continues  to  have  a 
good  time. 

[May  7,  18G8.] 

Having  a  little  time,  I  took  up  the  impeachment  trial  as 
narrated  b}'  the  official  reporters  and  the  imaginative  spe- 
cial correspondents.  The  trial  proper,  that  is  to  sa}',  the 
evidence  and  the  interlocutory  arguments,  was  good  reading. 
Our  old  friend  of  the  Middlesex-county  bar  was  at  home. 
He  was  the  only  lawyer  of  the  dozen  who  was  not  rusty, 
except,  perhaps,  Evarts.  Curtis  and  Stanbery  long  ago  left 
off  trying  cases  ;  Boutwell  never  tried  many ;  Wilson  and 
Bingham  are  lawj-ers  after  a  Western  fashion  ;  Groesbock  is 
a  business-man  with  a  legal  education  ;  Nelson,  a  Tennessee 
stump-orator  ;  Williams,  an  ex-judge  who  never  tried  a  cause 
as  counsel  in  his  life  ;  Logan  was  put  on  the  list  of  managers 
to  make  up  the  number,  and  give  the  AVest  its  due  promi- 
nence ;  and  Stevens,  the  ablest  man  of  the  lot,  was  too  old 
to  try  the  case.  Butler  alone  was  fresh  as  a  daisy.  Evarts 
told  somebody  that  he  was  going  to  show  that  he  was  "  not 
afraid  of  Ben  Butler."  —  "But,"  said  the  man  who  heard 
him,  "  he  said  it  in  a  wa}'  which  convinced  me  that  he  was." 
It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  general  showed  greater 
resources  as  a  trier  of  the  case  than  any  other  man  there. 
Indeed,  I  understand  that  he  declares  that  the  President's 
counsel  are  quite  unfit  to  try  cases,  and  that,  in  Essex  and 
Middlesex  and  Suffolk,  he  has  met  with  much  more  danger- 
ous opponents.     Of  course  he  is  depreciated,  and  cried  out 


316  "WARRINGTON:" 

against  as  an  "  Old  Bailey  "  practitioner  ;  and  this  cry  would 
do  very  well  if  he  had  not  also  shown  great  readiness  and 
power  in  the  argumentative  work  which  was  assigned  to  him. 
As  for  the  long  speeches,  I  have  tried  a  few  of  them. 
Groesbeck's  was  good,  shrewd,  good-tempered,  and  eloquent ; 
Nelson's  was  by  no  means  as  bad  as  was  representad ;  Bout- 
well's  was  a  model  of  concise  argumentation  ;  Wilson  inter- 
jected one  good  speech;  but  as  for  Evarts's  and  Bingham's, 
they  are  quite  too  eloquent  to  be  first-rate.  Ben  Wade  is 
reported  to  have  said,  after  hearing  speeches  on  both  sides 
about  a  hundred  hours,  that  he  considered  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero  two  of  the  greatest  pests  and  mischief-makers  that 
ever  existed.  Evarts  made  some  very  good  fun  of  the  hole 
in  the  sky,^  which  was  a  choice  thing  for  Boutw ell's  enemies 
to  lay  hold  of,  and  the  only  thing  to  object  to  in  his  whole 
argument ;  but  Bingham  is  quite  too  wordy  and  dogmatic  to 
be  read  with  pleasure.  The  boj's  at  the  Latin  School  have 
thus  far  looked  in  vain  for  "  pieces  to  speak,"  and  have  been 
obliged,  I  believe,  to  fall  back  on  Spartacus,  Rienzi,  Lord 
Chatham,  Col.  Barre,  Patrick  Henr}-,  Everett,  Webster,  and 
the  old  "  stand-bj's."  "  Sink  or  swim"  still  reverberates  in 
the  school-rooms  of  Boston ;  and  "Who  is  there  to  mom'n 
for  Logan?"   is  plaintively  asked  in  the  country  villages. 

1  Travellers  and  astronomers  inform  us,  that  in  the  southernjieavens, 
near  the  Southern  Cross, there  is  avast  space  which  the  uneducated  call 
the  "hole  in  the  sky,"  ^Yhere  the  eye  of  man,  with  the  aid  of  the  powers  of 
the  telescope,  has  been  unable  to  discover  nebulre,  or  asteroid,  or  comet, 
or  planet,  or  star,  or  sun.  In  that  dreary,  cold,  dark  region  of  space, 
which  is  only  known  to  be  less  than  infinite  by  the  evidences  of  crea- 
tion elsewhere,  the  Great  Author  of  celestial  mechanism  has  left  the 
chaos  which  Avas  in  the  beginning.  If  this  earth  were  capable  of  the 
sentiments  and  emotions  of  justice  and  virtue  which  in  human  mortal 
beings  are  the  evidences  and  the  pledge  of  our  divine  origin  and  im- 
mortal destiny,  it  would  heave  and  throe  with  the  energy  of  the  ele- 
mental forces  of  nature,  and  project  this  enemy  of  two  races  of  men 
into  tliat  vast  region,  there  forever  to  exist  in  a  solitude  eternal  as  life, 
or  as  the  absence  of  life,  emblematical  of,  if  not  really,  that  onter  dark- 
ness of  which  the  Saviour  of  man  spoke  in  warning  to  those  who  are 
the  enemies  of  themselves,  of  their  race,  and  of  their  God. — Extract 
from  G.  H.  Boutwell's  Speech. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  317 

As  for  "There  stands  Massachusetts,"  and  "Give  me 
liberty,  or  give  me  death,"  and  "  Then,  and  not  till  then,  let 
my  epitaph  be  written," — wh}',  of  course,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  these  efforts  will  ever  be  superseded  by  the 
Binghams  and  Evartses  of  the  Washington  trial.  "  Renown 
and  grace  are  dead  ;  "  and,  we  ma}-  add,  eloquence  also. 


[May  21.] 
PRES.  Johnson's  impeachment. 
The  verdict  last  Saturday  did  not  surprise  an3'bod3'.  After 
Fessenden  and  Trumbull  and  Henderson  made  their  speeches, 
a  week  before,  or  nearh'  so,  there  was  about  as  much  chance 
for  Johnson's  acquittal  as  for  the  failure  of  Booth's  pistol  in 
1865.  And  the  cases  are  very  nearl}'  parallel ;  the  main  dif- 
ference between  them  being,  that  Booth  was  a  stage-struck 
madman,  and  the  treacherous  senators  were  bribed,  partly 
by  mone}-,  and  parth*  by  the  voluptuousness  of  revenge.  I 
admire  the  spirit  of  the  expression  of  "The  Cincinnati 
Gazette,"  which  sa3-s,  "  These  senators  need  not  shake  their 
trial  oaths  at  us."  If  there  is  an}'  thing  worse  than  the 
treacher}-,  it  is  the  cant  which  pretends  that  it  is  the  result 
of  conscientious  conviction.  Ross's  and  Fowler's  open  and 
avouched  corruptibilit}'  can  be  put  up  with  ;  but  Fessenden' s 
and  Trumbull's  pretence  of  a  conscience  is  quite  unbearable. 
If  the}'  had  put  in  the  plea  old  Mr.  Weller  desired  to  have 
entered  in  the  Pickwick  case,  —  viz.,  an  alibi,  —  they  could 
not  have  placed  themselves  in  a  more  contemptible  position. 
There  is  no  justice  in  making  Ross  and  Fowler  the  scape- 
goats. Fowler  only  followed  his  natural  bent ;  and  the 
Republicans  who  voted  to  admit  Tennessee  into  the  Senate 
are  well  repaid  by  the  votes  -of  both  its  senators  for  acquittal. 
State  pride  went  for  something ;  for  the  snuff-eaters  and 
snulf-dippcrs  of  Tennessee  arc  by  no  means  deficient  in  State 
pride ;  and  Andy  Johnson,  after  all,  is  the  best  representa- 
tive the  border-element  ever  had  in  "Washington.  The  model 
man  of  the  West  is  not  always  polite  and  coui-tly  :  he  driulcs 


318  "  WAERINGTON: " 

wMskej',  and  "  shouts  the  frequent  damn."  And  even  the 
Yankee,  when 

"  He  whittles  round  St.  Mary's  Falls 
Upon  his  loaded  wain,"  — 

even  he,  according  to  Whittier, 

"  Leaves  upon  the  pictured  rocks 
•  His  fresh  tobacco-stain." 

But  neither  the  Westerner  nor  the  Yankee  can  vie  with  John- 
son in  those  disgusting  qualities  which  are  peculiar  to  the 
Tennessee  breed.  Fowler  and  Patterson  could  not  shame 
their  ancient  and  most  filthj^  Commonwealth  by  voting  guilty. 
Van  Winkle's  vote,  too,  repays  that  totally  unjustifiable  de- 
parture from  principle  which  made  a  State  of  AYest  Virginia 
in  the  early  part  of  the  war. 

It  will  be  safe  to  wager  that  half,  at  least,  of  the  "  radi- 
cals "  who  have  been  or  will  be  chosen  to  Congi'ess  from 
the  newl^'-constructed  Southern  States  will  be  as  purchasable 
as  Fowler  or  Ross.  The  Senate  and  House  better  not  be  in 
a  hurry  to  admit  these  new  States.  Let  them  look  out  for 
the  congressmen,  and,  moreover,  look  out  for  the  electors. 
One  of  the  most  serious  aspects  of  the  bribery  business  is 
the  certaint}'  that  hereafter  presidential  electors  can  be 
bribed  after  they  are  chosen,  and  appear  in  Washington  to 
give  their  votes.  Briber}'  has  for  some  time  been  a  recog- 
nized political  force  in  the  legislatures  of  some  States :  it 
has  now  controlled  the  impeachment  question,  and  settled 
the  occupanc}'  of  the  White  House  for  nine  months :  it  is 
much  more  likely  to  be  used  to  settle  the  presidential  ques- 
tion for  the  four  years  from  1869  to  1873. 

To  return  to  the  scapegoats:  "Rise,  honest  Muse,  and 
sing  the  Man  of  Ross."  Who  is  Ross?  Perhaps  he  is 
needy ;  in  debt,  and  out  at  the  elbows  :  — 

"  So  weary  with  disaster,  tugged  with  fortune, 
That  he  would  set  his  life  on  any  chance 
To  mend  it,  or  be  rid  on't." 

Doubtless  he  has  his  excuse ;  and  I'll  wager  that  it  is  a 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  319 

better  one  than  Fessenden's  cl3-spepsia,  or  Trumbull's  scru- 
ples. As  George  Canning  praj-ed  to  be  saved  from  a  candid 
friend,  we  shall  by  and  by  have  to  put  up  our  supplications 
to  be  saved  from  the  direful  effects  of  conscience.  Com- 
mend rac  to  Ross  and  Fowler  rather  than  to  Fessenden  and 
Trumbull.  It  is  too  contagious.  Whether  Fessenden  caught 
it  of  Trumbull,  or  Trumbull  of  Fessenden,  is  uncertain  ; 
possibly  Grimes  or  Henderson  was  broken  out  with  it  first : 
but  it  was  a  most  dangerous  complaint.  Money  might  be 
exhausted  ;  but,  when  a  batch  of  old  lawyers  had  an  eruption 
of  conscience,  it  was  all  up  with  impeachment. 

It  will  not  do  to  pass  over  Chief  Justice  Chase.  He  is 
writing  letters  to  some  of  his  old  friends  in  this  region,  sa}'- 
ing,  that  if  the  question  had  been,  "  Shall  the  President  be 
removed  ? ' '  there  would  probably  have  been  two-thirds  in  the 
affirmative;  but  as  it  was,  "Is  the  President  guilty  of  this 
article?"  the  article  failed.  This  is  oul}'  a  new  statement 
of  the  conscience  dodge.  Is  the  chief  justice  such  a  fool  as 
to  suppose  that  the  people  do  not  see  through  this  ridiculous 
plea?  They  know  that  the  question  was  precisely  that, — 
Shall  Johnson  be  removed? — and  his  sophistr}'  can  no  more 
disguise  the  fact  than  his  judicial  robes  can  disguise  the  bitter 
partisan  malignity  and  disappointment  which  controlled  his 
action  throughout  the  trial.  The  excuses  which  are  possiljle 
for  Fessenden  and  Trumbull  fail  entirely  where  S.  P.  Chase 
is  concerned.  He  is  intellectually  strong  enough,  and  the 
tone  of  his  mind  is  radical  and  utilitarian  enough,  to  enable 
him  to  discard  precedents  and  the  mouldy  opinions  of  the 
past.  For  instance,  he  was  never,  or  at  least  he  has  not 
been  for  the  last  twent3--five  years,  imposed  upon,  by  the 
traditions  of  the  laAV3-ers,  judges,  and  statesmen,  as  to  the 
constitutionality  of  slavery.  He  was  as  radical  as  Lysander 
Spooner,  and  in  the  same  direction.  He  cares  nothing  for 
the  Madison  Papers,  or  Bracton,  or  "  The  Year-Books. "  He 
never,  like  Fessenden,  had  his  sense  squeezed  out  of  him  by 
Marshall's  and  Webster's  ponderous  speeches  and  decisions, 
as  old  Giles  Corey  was  pressed  to  death  by  heavy  weights  in 


320  «  WARRING  TON: " 

the  days  of  Salem  witclieraft.  Mr.  Chase  knows  enough  to 
discard  precedents,  and  act  on  common-sense  principles  ;  and 
he  can  see  a  fallac}'  as  clearly  as  Bentham  or  Sydne}'  Smith 
could  see  one.  He  has  deliberately  put  on  this  legal  cloak 
for  a  dishonest  purpose  ;  and  his  action  in  this  case,  with 
the  action  of  the  great  lawj'ers  who  have  followed  his  exam- 
ple, leads  common  men  to  the  conclusion  that  it  will  not  do 
to  trust  law3-ers  in  great  emergencies.  "  One  thing  I  suppli- 
cate your  Highness,"  said  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa  in  a 
letter  to  the  King  of  Spain  (1513),  "for  it  is  much  to  3-our 
service ;  and  that  is,  that  3'ou  would  give  orders,  under  a 
gi'eat  penalt}',  that  no  bachelor  of  law,  or  of  any  thing  else, 
except  medicine,  shall  be  allowed  to  come  to  these  parts  of 
the  terra  firma ;  for  no  bachelor  comes  here  who  is  not  a 
devil,  and  who  does  not  lead  the  life  of  a  devil.  And  not 
onl^'  are  thej'  bad  themselves,  but  they  also  make  and  con- 
trive a  thousand  lawsuits  and  iniquities."  The  "furred 
homicides,"  as  Dr.  Parr  called  them,  who  sat  in  Westmin- 
ster Hall,  and  administered  the  penal  laws  in  the  daj's  of 
Romilly,  had  their  admirers,  and  so  Salmon  P.  Chase  has 
his ;  but  thej'  will  be  respectablj''  considered  by  history  in 
comparison  with  him.  He  has  disgraced  even  the  judicial 
ermine. 

I  do  not  expect,  with  some  people,  that  this  will  be  the 
last  of  And}'.  He  has  the  stuff  in  him  for  a  hundred  brawls 
3'et.  His  reputation  as  a  bruiser  is  not  at  all  damaged  by 
the  denial,  in  his  answer,  that  he  ever  made  the  naught}' 
speeches  at  Cleveland  and  St.  Louis  ;  for  everybod}'  knows 
that  he  did.  Let  him  stand  on  that  record.  He  is  not  the 
man  to  wrap  his  mantle,  that  is  to  sa}^  his  overcoat,  round 
him,  and  undertake  to  console  himself  with  talk  about  d3-ing 
with  dignity  and  honor.  He  is  more  likel}'  to  be  of  FalstaflTs 
opinion  concerning  that  ethereal  qualit}' :  "  Can  honor  set  to 
a  leg  ?  no :  or  an  arm  ?  no :  or  take  awa}-  the  grief  of  a 
wound?  no.  Honor  hath  no  skill  in  surgery,  then?  No. 
What  is  honor?  a  word.  What  is  in  that  word  honor?  air. 
A  trim  reckoning !     Who  hath  it  ?  he  that  died  o'  Wedues- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  321 

day.  Doth  he  feel  it?  no.  Doth  he  hear  it?  no.  It  is 
insensible,  then?  3'ea,  to  the  dead.  But  will  it  not  live 
with  the  living?  no.  Why?  detraction  will  not  suffer  it: 
therefore,  I'll  none  of  it:  honor  is  a  mere  scutcheon." 
Depend  upon  it,  we  shall  see  Andy  on  the  stump  again 
before  many  weeks,  and,  on  the  first  opportunity,  running 
for  governor  or  senator,  or  alderman  at  the  very  least. 


322  "WARRINGTON:" 


CHAPTER  XI. 

-      ACTION  IN  MASSACHUSETTS  FROM  1868  TO  1871. 
[""Warrington's  "  Letters  in  Springfield  Republican,  July  2,  1868.] 
THE   NEW-YORK  DEMOCRATIC   CONVENTION. 

People  here  had  begun  to  settle  down  into  the  belief  that 
Hendricks  ("Tom  Hendricks")  would  be  nominated  at 
New  York ;  but  to-day  there  is  a  storj^  of  a  positive  decli- 
nation on  his  part.  "  Tom  "  is  not  a  bad  first  name  for  a 
candidate.  It  is  much  better  than  Salmon.  "  Our  Salmon," 
"Bull}'  for  Salmon  !  "  would  not  be  euphonious  and  tripping 
upon  the  tongue  like  "Tom  Plendricks,"  "Our  Tom,"  and 
"Bull}'  for  Tom  !  "  Can  anybody  tell  what  Pendleton's  first 
name  is?  "Pendleton"  is  good:  it  has  an  aristocratic, 
South-Carolinian,  slave-driving  sound ;  and  nothing  suits 
your  genuine  Democrat  of  the  American  sort  like  an  easy 
superiorit}'  of  name  and  manner.  Chase's  robes  are  very 
well ;  but  he  has  worn  them  so  unskilfuU}',  that  they  have 
not  been  specially  becoming.  K  the  reverend  rector  of  St. 
Barabbas  should,  after  service  in  the  forenoon,  walk  down 
to  the  stable  of  the  Metropolitan  Railroad,  or  to  any  other 
stable,  take  a  dilapidated  chair  (such  as  stables  have),  lean 
back,  pull  out  his  pipe,  take  a  smoke,  and  between  the 
whiffs  swear  an  oath  or  two,  and  tell  dii't}'  stories  with  the 
stable-bo3's,  the  Church  of  St.  Barabbas  would  soon  away 
with  him :  not  even  his  robes  would  save  him.  Chase  has 
not  been  careful  to  preseiwe  his  dignity.  He  put  on  con- 
siderable, to  serve  his  purpose  of  treachery  during  the  im- 
peachment trial ;  but  everybody  knew  what  he  was  driving 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  323 

at.  Then  there  is  Frank  Blair.  There  is  no  cant  about 
him.  He  is  a  drunken  rowdy,  and  will  not  do.  The  Democ- 
rac}'  must  have  a  gentleman.  Its  candidates  have  geuerall}' 
been  gentlemen :  witness  Van  Buren,  Buchanan,  Pierce,  — 
rascals,  perhaps,  but  well-mannered.  Was  not  McClellan 
a  well-behaved  person,  and  eke  a  pious  one?  I  think  we 
shall  have  a  gentlemanl}'  and  well-mannered  candidate  to 
represent  the  old  rebel  element :  if  not  Pendleton,  then 
Hendricks,  who  alwaj's  speaks  in  long,  solemn,  and  measured 
sentences  ;  or  perhaps  Se3'mour,  for  I  have  not  yet  given  up 
the  idea  that  this  most  gentlemanly  and  adroit  representa- 
tive of  the  New- York  school  may  j-et  turn  up.  Here  is  a 
gentleman  of  high,  the  highest  "  tone."  I  doubt  whether 
even  Koss  or  Pitt  Fessenden  could  more  gracefully  put  on  an 
air  of  offended  dignit}',  when  charged  with  a  rascality,  than 
Seymour.  Greele}',  in  his  indignation,  calls  him  a  liar  ;  and 
so  unquestionabl}'  he  is.  But  with  what  a  grace  he  lies  !  —  a 
ver}'  scamp-Chesterfield.  Contrast  him  with  Johnson,  or 
Frank  Blair,  or  Nasb^^,  —  serviceable  rank-and-file  men,  no 
doubt,  good  men  for  the  cross-roads  and  the  corner-grocery, 
but  not  fit  for  the  mahogany  and  the  cabinet.  Your  most  use- 
ful Democrat,  in  the  long-run,  is  the  man  like  Se3'mour,  who 
not  only  utterly  despises  Democracy,  but  who  believes,  with 
the  New-York  school, — the  Van  Burens,  Sewards,  and 
Weeds,  —  that  there  is  no  virtue  extant,  and  that  the  world  is 
in  every  thing  governed  b}-  humbug.  Pendleton  is  a  more 
honest  man.  Hendricks  has  a  sort  of  faith  in  the  people, 
got  b}'  residence  among  them  for  a  long  time.  All  these 
men  believe  more  or  less  in  the  capacity  of  men  for  govern- 
ment ;  but  Sej'mour,  like  Seward,  onl}'  in  the  capacity  of 
man  to  be  governed,  and  to  be  humbugged.  He  is  your 
man,  O  Democratic  delegates  ! 

There  is  a  pretty  little  poem  by  Wordsworth,  with  the 
title,  "We  are  Seven,"  which  ever^-body  is  familiar  with ; 
and,  though  it  is  a  pit}'  to  make  fan  of  it,  the  late  funeral- 
obsequies  over  Mr.  Fessenden' s  remains  prompt  me  to  give 
some  lines  of  quotation  from  it.     The  little  maid,  seen  and 


324  "WARRINGTON:" 

talked  with  b}^  the  contemplative  poet,  as  you  will  remember, 
insists  that  there  are  seven  sisters  and  brothers  in  all, 
though  the  poet,  from  his  enumeration,  can  only  make  out 
five.     She  insists,  — 

"  Seven  boys  and  girls  are  we : 
Two  of  us  in  the  churchyard  lie, 
Beneath  the  churchyard-tree." 

The  poet  still  demurs  ;  but  the  maiden  proceeds  to  demon- 
strate, — 

"  Their  graves  are  green,  they  may  be  seen, 
The  little  maid  replied  • " 

and  more  minutely  she  adds,  — 

*'  My  stockings  there  I  often  knit, 
My  kerchief  there  I  hem ; " 

(you  observe  she  is  in  the  manufacturing  and  dry-goods 
line :  Naumkeag  steam  cotton-mills,  Indian-orchard  facto- 
ries, and  big  commission-houses,  grow  from  just  such  small 
knitting  and  hemming  operations,)  — 

*'  And  there  upon  the  ground  I  sit, 
And  sing  a  song  to  them." 

A  June  idyl  is  here  prefigured :  — 

"  And  often  after  sunset,  sir, 
Wlien  it  is  light  and  fair, 
I  take  my  little  porringer, 
And  eat  my  supper  there." 

Then  the  little  creature  goes  on  to  tell  how  sister  Jane 
died  first,  and  then  how  brother  John  was  forced  to  go  ;  and 
finally  she  makes  the  poet,  who  is  not  half  as  dull  as  he  pre- 
tends to  be,  understand  how  the  seven  are  made  up.  Fifty 
or  sixty  Boston  gentlemen  proposed  to  take  their  little  por- 
ringers, and  sit  down  and  eat  their  little  suppers  by  the 
political  grave  of  the  Maine  senator ;  and  he,  humoring  the 
idea  that  he  is  still  among  the  living,  but  knowing  that 
the  delusion  would  be  dispelled  if  he  should  accede  to  their 
request,  by  some  spiritual  machinery  or  other  (planchette, 
perhaps)  replies  that  he  has.  no  stomach  for  a  dinner,  and 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  325 

declines  to  come.  Planchette,  however,  is  exceeding  ill- 
natured.     She  scolds  very  bitterl}-. 

Wh}^,  we  have  had  no  such  talk  for  weeks  and  months. 
The  senator,  or  his  shade,  falls  to  cursing  like  a  scullion. 
Hear  him:  "The  air  was  filled  with  Ij'ing  rumors,  which 
found  their  wa}-  to  the  public  ear  through  the  appropriate 
channels."  "The  appropriate  channels "  !  Do  3'ou  hear  that, 
Greele}-?  Do  j'ou  hear  that,  "  Cincinnati  Gazette"?  That 
means  you,  though  the  senator  is  afraid  to  speak  out  very 
plumpl}'.  "  Denunciation,  vituperation,  calumny,  threats 
of  personal  violence  and  of  lifelong  infam}',  were  profusely 
hurled  at  all  who  might  dare  to  disobey  the  public  senti- 
ment. The  men  who  resorted  to  these  appliances  were 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  such  weapons,  and  knew  well  how 
to  wield  them.  Unscrupulous,  familiar  with  detraction, 
believers  neither  in  public  nor  private  virtue,  —  or,  if  believ- 
ers, considering  both  out  of  place  in  politics, — they  could 
not  resist  such  an  opportunity.  Washington  was  filled  with 
men  ready  to  jump  into  places  to  be  made  vacant  (sotto 
voce,  by  the  removal  of  the  score  or  two  of  my  own  relatives 
now  in  snug  and  comfortable  places) .  Gamblers  thronged 
the  saloons,  and  the  character  and  reputation  of  senators 
upon  whose  votes  the  result  was  supposed  to  depend,  rose  and 
fell,  while  the  telegraph  was  at  hand  to  carry  over  the  wires 
to  the  homes  and  friends  of  those  senators  exevy  calumny 
which  disappointed  ambition  could  imagine,  or  cupidity  and 
malignit}'  could  invent." 

And  so  on,  ad  nauseam.  Well,  Mr.  Senator  Fessenden, 
who  is  to  blame  but  yourself  for  this  unpleasant  state  of 
affairs?  Nobod}' betted  or  gambled  on  Lot  Morrill's  vote. 
Everybody  knew  that  Maine  had  one  honest  senator,  whose 
vote  was  not  doubtful,  and  could  not  be  changed  by  mone}', 
nor  revenge,  nor  spite,  nor  dyspepsia,  nor  any  thing  else. 
Nobod}'  undertook  to  slander  Wilson,  or  Sumner,  or  Patter- 
son, or  Cragin.  They  were  known  to  be  men  of  honor,  and 
not  canting  ^((asi-judges,  putting  on  some  skunk-skin  robe 
in  lieu  of  ermine,  and  parading  what  they  termed  their  judi- 


326  ''WARRINGTON:" 

cial  oaths  as  an  excuse  for  their  perjurj\  It  was  only  the 
Fessenclens  and  Rosses  and  Fowlers  and  Hendersons  and 
Grimeses  and  Trumbulls  who  were  speculated  on ;  for  onl}'- 
thej'  were  in  the  market.  It  was  only  they  who  were  talked 
of  and  followed  ;  for  they  only  were  ' '  on  the  street. ' ' 


[July  4.] 

THE  MOST  GLORIOUS  FOURTH. 

Unquestionably  the  most  glorious  Fourth  we  hare  had  yet. 
We  shall  not  have  a  genuine  and  perfect  one  until  1869, 
after  Johnson  has  gone  back  to  his  snuff-eating  constitu- 
ents. Perhaps  Mrs.  Stanton  and  Miss  Anthony  will  sa}' 
we  shall  not  have  one  until  18 — ,  that  distant  year  when 
women  shall  have  all  their  rights.  But  spite  of  the  presi- 
dential anachronism,  and  the  limping  and  halting  condition 
of  the  female-suffrage  question,  we  shall  have  a  respectable 
Fourth  b}"  comparison  with  those  of  previous  years.  I  am 
going  to  have  a  grand  explosion  of  torpedoes.  Huzza ! 
that's  for  the  Union  ;  that's  for  the  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion ;  that's  for  the  surrender  of  Lee  ;  that's  for  a  patriotic 
Congress  ;  that's  a  grand  funeral-piece  in  meraor}'  of  Lin- 
coln ;  that's  for  the  Reconstruction  Bill;  that's  for  the 
radical  leaders  ;  that's  for  the  arm}'  and  navy  ;  that's  for 
universal  suffrage  and  universal  education ;  that's  for  the 
ladies ;  that's  for  peace  and  a  regenei'ated  countr}'.  In 
addition  to  this,  I  have  a  grand  pin-wheel  for  impeachment, 
which  I  hope  will  not  prove  to  be  a  fizzle  ;  but  I  am  afraid  it 
will,  pin-wheels'  are  so  apt  to  be  failures. 

TUNNEL  INFLUENCE  AND  THE  LOBBY. 

For  the  lobby,  with  its  corrupting  influences,  Massachu- 
setts is  indebted  to  the  Hoosac  Tunnel.  Fifteen  3"ears  ago, 
it  was  unknown.  Now  it  has  become  so  powerful  and  bold, 
that  it  is  opeul}'  boasted  that  the  "  third  house  "  is  a  necessary 
and  meritorious  adjunct  of  the  legislature.  And  so  arranged 
and  sj'stematized   is  the  business,  that,  when  the  regular 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  327 

bands  can't  do  tlie  work,  Adams  and  Westfield,  not  to  men- 
tion other  places,  are  prompt  to  send  assistance  ;  and  so 
bold  have  these  fellows  become,  that  they  do  not  confine 
themselves  to  the  legislative  halls,  bat  even  invade  the 
executive  chamber,  and  ply  his  Excellency  with  their  arts 
and  arguments.  The  tunnel  interest  does  not  paj-  the  lobb}- 
much  money  directly  ;  but  the  lobb}-  works  with  and  for  it, 
and  always  has,  for  the  influence  it  can  obtain  to  push  other 
things  with,  and  which  will  pa3\  As  far  as  the  tunnel  itself 
is  concerned,  it  is  put  through  on  the  "  you-tickle-me-and- 
I'll-tickle-3'ou"  principle.     What  a  power  that  is  which  can 

"  Force  whole  regions,  in  despite 
O'  geography,  to  change  their  site," 

the  people  of  the  State  will  be  apt  to  realize  before  they 
have  paid,  in  the  shape  of  taxes,  the  nearly  ten  million 
dollars  appropriated  by  the  18G8  legislature.  It  has  got  to 
that  now,  that  every  thing  and  ever}'  man  that  will  not  pay 
tribute  to  the  tunnel  and  the  lobby  are  put  down  in  short- 
metre  ;  while  all  measures  that  will  are  put  through  with  a 
rush. 

"  He  comes  to  shore  who  sails  with  me  " 

has  been  the  boast  of  the  tunnel  and  the  lobby  interest. 

That  iniquitous  measure,  the  Maverick  East-Boston  Bridge 
project,  never  would  have  gone  through,  especiall}-  over  the 
governor's  veto,  if  its  friends  had  not  promised  to  vote  for 
the  tunnel.  The ,  appropriation  for  Provincetown  Harbor 
would  have  been  voted  down,  if  the  South-shore  folks  had 
not  gone  for  the  tunnel.  Tlie  permission  given  to  the  towns 
along  the  line  of  the  Williamsburg  and  North  Adams  Rail- 
road, to  take  stock  in  the  enterprise,  would  have  been  with- 
held, had  not  the  advocates  of  that  measure  given  in  their 
adherence  to  the  tunnel.  Mr.  Plunkett  of  Pittsfield,  an 
old-line  Democrat,  went  to  Boston  dctei-mined  to  oppose  all 
appropriations,  especiall}'  the  tunnel.  If  he  had  done  so 
actively,  does  any  one  suppose  he  would  have  been  made 
State  director  of  the  Western  Railroad,  and  could  have  car- 


328  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ried  the  bill  for  the  removal  of  the  Berkshire-count}-  build- 
ings to  Pittsfield?  He  voted  against  the  tunnel,  indeed,  if 
he  voted  at  all.  But  wh}'  didn't  he  make  his  promised  speech 
against  it  ?  and  what  did  he  do  with  the  facts  and  figures 
furnished  him  for  that  purpose?  Are  there  any  persons 
green  enough  to  suppose  the  appropriation  of  fort}'  thousand 
dollars  for  the  Agricultural  College  at  Amherst  could  have 
been  carried  on  "  its  merits,"  if  Mr.  Ward  of  that  town  had 
not,  in  turn,  supported  the  tunnel?  If  so,  let  me  disabuse 
their  minds  at  once.  Fussy  little  Mr.  Mixter  of  Hardwick, 
an  ardent  opponent  of  the  tunnel  heretofore,  who  iliade  a 
speech  against  it  in  1854,  and  who  has  been  a-going  to  stop 
this  squandering  of  th3  people's  money  all  along,  became  a 
sudden  convert  to  the  tunnel  this  3-ear,  and  after  getting  all 
his  available  means  into  government-bonds  before  the  1st 
of  Ma}',  and  thus  beyond  the  reach  of  taxation,  voted  five 
millions  of  other  people's  money  for  the  tunnel  without 
flinching. 

Mr.  Crittenden  of  Otis  may  have  supported  the  tunnel  on 
principle ;  but  it  is  more  than  supposed  that  he  did  it,  and 
his  friends  with  him,  more  to  get  through  the  appropriation 
for  the  Lee  and  New-Haven  Railroad  than  any  thing  else. 
The  House  virtuously  voted,  one  day,  not  to  buy  a  thousand 
copies  of  Gen.  Schouler's  five-dollar  history  of  "Massachu- 
setts in  the  Rebellion."  The  mistake  was  discovered,  and  the 
vote  promptly  changed,  the  next  day.  It  is  needless  to  add, 
that  Senator  Schouler  has  cordially  supported  the  tunnel  with 
voice  and  vote.  Last  year,  the  vote  of  three  millions  in  aid  of 
the  Hartford  and  Erie  Railroad  was  put  through  by  the  tunnel 
people,  —  for  a  consideration,  of  course;  and,  as  a  curious 
illustration  of  how  things  go  here,  it  may  be  added,  that  the 
Hartford  and  Erie  interest  took  up  and  carried  the  loan  to 
the  North  Adams  and  Williamsburg  Railroad,  along  with  its 
own  bill,  and  without  expense  to  the  latter  corporation,  who 
put  in  their  request  late,  and  had  no  particular  claims  or 
hopes. 

But  why  multiply  instances  ?    If  I  have  not  given  enough 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  329 

to  show  honest  people  how  log-rolling  and  corruption  pre- 
vail at  Boston,  let  them  apply  to  their  representative  for 
more.  I  will  onl}'  add,  that  it  is  a  fact,  that,  at  the  last  end, 
sixteen  members  of  the  House  were  bought  for  the  tunnel 
by  the  promise  that  the  x)er  diem  should  be  increased  to  six 
dollars  a  day ;  and  this  bargain  was  kept  in  the  lower 
branch.  Bat  to  the  credit  of  Senator  Bowerman  of  Berk- 
shire it  should  be  said,  that,  though  a  friend  of  the  tunnel, 
be  refused  to  perfect  the  swindle  in  the  upper  House.  Be- 
sides all  this  trading  and  bargaining,  there  are  plenty  of 
rumors  of  the  actual  purchase  of  members  with  money  ;  but, 
as  I  cannot  speak  positively  on  this  point,  it  is  better  to  say 
nothing. 

It  has  come  to  be  useless  for  any  honest  man  to  try  to  get 
an}"  honest  measure  through  our  legislature  on  its  merits 
alone.  People  have  come  to  understand,  that,  if  they  have 
any  business  at  the  State  House,  they  must  at  least  hire  the 
lobby  to  keep  quiet.  But  I  must  pause  here,  though  not  for 
want  of  material,  I  assure  j^ou.  But  I  have  already'  said 
enough  to  call  the  attention  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
to  the  chicanery  and  corruption  which  prevail  at  the  Capitol ; 
and  that  is  all  that  is  necessar3\  It  rests  with  thorn  to  say 
whether  our  political  and  material  interests  shall  be  left  any 
longer  to  the  control  of  men  who  are 

"  Resolved  to  ruin  or  to  rule  the  State," 

evidently  not  caring  much  which.  Can  the  people,  can  the 
Republican  party,  stand  this  thing  an}-  longer? 

A  fellow  once  sat  in  the  pit  of  the  Providence  theatre 
(Providence  is  as  good  a  place  as  any  to  locate  the  stor}' 
in),  and,  observing  on  his  pla3'-bill  that  "an  interval  of 
twenty  3'ears  is  supposed  to  elapse  between  the  fourth  and 
fifth  acts,"  rose  and  retired,  saying,  "  Very  few  of  the  audi- 
ence will  live  till  the  conclusion  of  the  piece."  I  fear  it  is 
the  same  with  the  tunnel,  as  far  as  such  old  stagers  as  vou 
and  I  are  concerned.  ^Mr.  Whiting  of  Pembroke,  the  most 
original  and  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  House,  said  in  one 


330  "  WABBINGTON: " 

of  his  unique  speeches,  that  the  people  in  his  region,  many 
of  them,  believed  the  tunnel  to  have  been  brought  over  in 
"  The  Majiiower."  If,  contraiy  to  expectation,  the  contract 
takes  it  out  of  the  legislative  halls,  and  relegates  it  to  the 
executive  chamber  and  the  treasur}-  department,  does  not  the 
Edward  Crane  and  N.  B.  Shurtleff  Commission,  with  Edward 
Hamilton  for  secretaiy,  loom  up  in  the  distance?  I  have  put 
into  m}'  index ^  "  Boston  and  Lake  Ontario."  M}'  successor 
will  never  see  an  end  to  that  entry. 

The  tunnel  and  the  railroad  need  no  description,  of 
course.  I  think  it  is  impossible,  however,  to  see  the  hole 
in  the  mountain,  without  being,  in  the  abstract  at  least,  a 
"  friend  of  the  tunnel."  If  the  work  is  ever  completed,  — 
and  it  seems  evident  that  nothing  but  time  and  money  are 
wanted  for  its  completion ;  that  is,  that  there  is  no  insupera- 
ble natural  obstacle,  —  Massachusetts  and  its  people  will 
always  be  proud  of  it.  It  will  be,  indeed,  the  thing  best 
worth  seeing  in  the  whole  State. 

MEDICAL    AND    OTHER   JARGON. 

The  question  between  homoeopathy  and  .allopathy  is  pretty 
much  like  that  between  law  and  equity,  —  onl}^  a  question 
which  is  the  bigger  humbug  of  the  two.  The  "  allopaths  " 
have  made  a  serious  blunder  in  not  getting  their  system 
legalized,  consolidated  by  common  law,  and  copper-fastened 
by  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  authoritative  decisions.  Then  the 
case  of  Ear-ache  vs.  Thomas  a  Becket,  or  Chesterfield  vs. 
Carbuncle,  would  have  settled  every  thing.  Homoeopathy 
spreads,  not  because  people,  when  you  pin  them  down  to  it, 
believe  in  it,  but  because  it  is  a  protest  against  calomel  and 
jalap  and  bleeding,  as  Methodism  was  a  protest  against 
the  "grand  old  ugliness"  (as  Rev.  Mr.  Ames  called  it)  of 
Calvinism,  and  as  Spiritualism  satisfies  the  craving  desire 
for  a  belief  in  another  Avorld,  which  the  common  run  of 
orthodox  and  liberal  preachers  have  not  brains  enough  to 
deduce  from  nature  or  i-evelation,  or  which,  perhaps,  cannot 

1  To  the  Journal  of  the  House. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  '  331 

be  deduced  from  nature  or  revelation  by  any  amount  of 
brains.  And  liomoeopatli}^  like  Spiritualism,  is  peculiarly 
open  to  the  quack.  It  requires  no  great  outfit  of  intelli- 
gence to  practise  it  in  the  average  countr\--town  or  in  the 
cit}'.  If  3'ou  can  persuade  the  sick  man  that  there  is  some 
mysterious  way  in  which  the  spoonful  of  diluted  nothing 
works,  that  is  all  yon  want.  You  can  find  half  a  dozen 
tumblers  in  every  house  ;  the  pump  is  hand}- ;  and  the  young- 
est child  can  watch  the  clock :  and  all  the  patient  is  required 
to  do  is  to  take  his  spoonful  every  half-hour  or  two  hours, 
and  then  pay  the  bill,  or  let  it  be  settled  by  his  adminis- 
trator. 

Mr.  Emerson  said  once,  that  the  only  difference  between 
having  a  doctor,  and  not  having  one,  is  this  :  If  you  don't 
have  one,  you  die  ;  if  you  do  have  one,  j'ou  die  :  but,  in  this 
last  case,  your  relations  find  out  what  you  died  of.  Not 
unless  a  learned  man  is  called  in  to  make  an  examination  ; 
for  I  take  it  the  principal  trouble  with  allopath  and  homoeo- 
path is,  that  the  big  or  the  little  dose  is  given  generally 
without  the  slightest  idea,  or  with  only  a  guess,  more  or 
less  shrewd,  as  to  what  ails  the  patient,  and  what  the  effect 
of  the  medicine  is  to  be.  There  seems  to  be  something 
exact  in  surgery ;  but  dosing  is  mostly  guess-work.  The 
laugh  being  all  against  the  old-liners,  we  ought  not  to  in- 
crease its  volume.  And  reall}-  there  is  something  so  con- 
temptible in  the  whole  globule  sj'stem,  with  its  simiUa 
similibus  (derived,  way  back  of  Hahnemann,  from  the  man 
of  Thessaly  who  scratched  his  eyes  out  b}'  jumping  into  one 
brier-bush,  and  scratched  'em  in  again  by  jumping  into 
another),  that  we  cannot  afford  to  let  the  old  societ}'  be 
laughed  at  too  much.  It  has  more  learning  than  the  new 
school ;  and  learning  is,  in  the  long-run,  the  foe  to  dogma 
and  superstition,  and  ought  to  be  encouraged  as  against 
empiricism. 

The  opinion  seems  to  be  general,  that  the  homffiupathists 
give  less  medicine  than  other  doctors,  and  that  this  is  a  gain. 
I  doubt  whether  this  is  the  fact.     Homoeopath}',  it  seems  to 


332  "WARRINGTON:" 

me,  has  proved  itself  attractive,  probably  on  account  of  its 
novelty  and  mystery,  to  an  inordinate  and  disproportional 
number  of  ignorant  asses,  compared  with  the  old-line  prac- 
tice ;  and  it  makes  ver^^  little  difference  whether  an  ass 
practises  homoeopath}',  or  allopathy,  or  Thompsonianism,  or 
eclecticism.  In  the  first  place,  he  is  almost  sure  to  mistake 
the  S3'mptoms  and  the  disease  ;  and,  even  if  he  guesses  right 
here,  he  will  mistake  as  to  the  remed}'.  Hahnemann  would 
be  as  astounded  at  the  sight  of  the  mass  of  our  present 
homoeopathic  doctors  as  Drs.  Bigelow  or  Bowditch  are  at 
the  sight  of  the  quacks  who  practise  under  the  old  S3'stem ; 
and  as  it  makes  but  little  difference,  if  anj',  what  system  of 
medicine  a  fool  selects  as  his  way  of  enriching  himself  at 
the  public  expense,  so  the  degree  of  faith  and  wonder  with 
which  an  ignorant  public  or  neighborhood  looks  upon  its 
homoeopathic  doctor,  and  the  assiduity  with  which  it  watches 
the  tumblers  and  the  clock  to  see  that  the  remedies  are  ad- 
ministered exactl}^  ever}-  fifteen  seconds  during  the  da}',  is  as 
pitiable  as  the  faith  and  wonder  men  used  to  have  in  and  for 
the  old  saddle-bags  of  the  family  physician,  who,  generally 
speaking,  was  a  man  of  some  education,  to  say  the  least. 
The  apothecaries  ask  for  some  legislation  to  keep  ignorant 
people  out  of  the  profession  ;  and  their  proposition  is  worth 
considering,  though  the  true  way  of  making  quacks  power- 
less is  to  instruct  the  people. 

The  apothecaries  have  been  to  the  Committee  on  the 
Judiciary  to  protest  against  making  a  law  that  prescriptions 
shall  be  written  in  the  English  language.  Dr.  Buckingham 
sent  a  letter,  in  which  he  took  the  ground  that  this  would  be 
a  very  dangerous  proceeding.  Mr.  Hovey  (member  of  the 
House),  Dr.  Lincoln,  Prof.  Markoe,  and  Dr.  Arnold,  stated 
their  views  clearly ;  the  main  point  being  that  Latin  was  a 
universal  language,  and  that  drugs  were  known  by  different 
English  names  in  various  places.  Indeed,  it  was  admitted 
that  these  names  were  arbitrarily  fixed  by  conventions,  and 
some  of  them  had  no  meaning  whatever,  except  to  the  ini- 
tiated, like  a  password  to  a  Masonic  lodge,  or  Tappertit's 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  333 

secret  society.  So,  if  any  of  your  readers  get  a  prescrip- 
tion, prefaced  by  an  R  with  a  stab  through  the  middle  of  it, 
reading, 

"5iij9;3  3  HoppergoUop ;  s  i  j  9;  s  x  o," 

he  need  not  think  he  can  ascertain  what  it  is  by  going  even 
to  a  pharmacopoeia.  The  innocent  drugs  may  safely  be 
labelled  in  English,  and  perhaps  the  sick  man  will  save  his 
money  at  least ;  and,  if  the  poisons  are  properly  labelled, 
the  patient  ma}^  refuse  to  take  them,  and  there  will  be  a  clear 
gain  all  round.  Whatever  the  doctors  may  think,  this  is 
not  a  question  between  them  and  the  apothecaries :  on  the 
coutrar}',  the  sick  man  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it. 

The  apothecaries,  if  they  are  interested  in  it,  ought  to 
allow  a  clause  to  be  inserted,  compelling  doctors  to  write  all 
prescriptions  in  the  English  language.  That  relic  of  mys- 
tery and  superstition,  the  Latin  prescription,  ought  to  be 
abolished.  No  man  with  self-respect  —  and  by  this  I  mean 
with  respect  for  the  safety  of  his  own  bod}^  —  will  take  a  pre- 
scription from  a  doctor  to  an  apothecary  without  getting  the 
Latin  translated  into  English.  How  does  it  happen  that  the 
three  professions  —  physic,  law,  and  theology  —  find  it  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  get  a  living,  to  make  use  of  jargon?  There 
is  jargon  to  make  you  believe  your  soul  is  in  danger  from 
hell,  and  that  only  the  creed  of  the  Church  can  save  it ;  jar- 
gon to  make  j-ou  believe  that  only  a  lawyer  and  a  suit  can 
save  your  estate  from  your  cnem3' ;  and,  worst  of  all,  this 
medical  jargon,  to  make  you  believe  the  ignorant  experi- 
menter upon  3-our  liowels  and  brains  knows  more  than  you 
do  about  them.  AVhen  will  jargon  be  done  away  with?  By 
all  means,  let  the  apothecaries  commence  this  reform  in  their 
department. 

[July  8,  ISfiO.] 
THE   PROHIBITORY   LAW,    AND    LAWS    GENERALLY. 

The   prohibitory   law   proper  was   passed   in    1852,    and 
amended  and  perfected  in  1855.     In  18G7  it  bore  the  signa- 


334  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ture  of  Henry  J.  Gardner,  a  Boston  rum  Democrat.  The 
constabular}^  law  was  enacted  by  a  Republican  legislature, 
but  was  draughted  by  Gov.  Andrew  himself  in  1867,  the 
leading  advocate  of  a  license  law ;  and  was  voted  for  by  any 
number  of  Boston  men,  who  afterward  joined  secret  organiza- 
tions to  effect  its  repeal,  among  them  Mr.  A.  O.  Allen,  who 
figured  as  the  leader  of  the  P.  L.  L.'s  in  the  Republican  Con- 
vention. Gov.  Andrew  was  again  and  again  renominated  and 
re-elected  by  the  Republicans  when  known  to  be  against  pro- 
hibition, and  after  vetoing  the  favorite  measure  of  the  prohibi- 
tionists,— the  Jury  Bill.  Both  the  prominent  candidates  for 
speaker  in  18G6,  Mr.  Stone  and  Mr.  Jewell,  were  well-known 
opponents  of  the  prohibitory  law  ;  and  they  divided  the  whole 
vote  of  the  House.  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams  was  chosen  to  the  legis- 
lature of  1866  as  a  Republican,  and  remained  in  good  standing 
until  he  ratted  to  the  Copperheads,  for  reasons  solely  connect- 
ed with  national  politics.  It  is  simply  impossible  for  the 
Republicans  to  declare  themselves  on  one  side  or  the  other 
of  the  liquor  question.  The  reason  why  the  law  cannot  be 
enforced,  and  why  it  will,  before  long,  either  be  upheld,  or 
become  a  dead-letter  (as  it  was  in  1864) ,  is  simplj',  that  a 
majority  of  the  people  buy  liquor,  and  use  it  as  a  beverage, 
more  or  less  of  it ;  and,  as  far  as  my  observation  goes,  the 
Republicans  drink  their  share. 

The  people  of  Massachusetts,  I  am  confident,  would  be 
glad  to  settle  the  liquor  question  on  a  fair  basis.  It  is  im- 
possible to  settle  it  at  present  on  an}'-  principle  ;  for  neither 
the  license  party  nor  the  prohibitory  party  hold  to  a  principle, 
and  one  is  just  as  far  from  holding  to  it  as  the  other.  The 
legislature  came  very  near  carr^-ing  out  the  desire  of  the 
people,  and  framing  a  law  with  a  fair  prospect  of  perma- 
nence. What  prevented  them?  On  the  one  hand,  the  political 
interests  of  the  handful  of  Democrats  in  the  House,  which 
were,  of  course,  adverse  to  any  settlement  on  a  decent  founda- 
tion ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  stupidity  of  the  State  Alli- 
ance. Now,  accorc.'ng  to  my  observation,  the  only  waj^  for  a 
minority  party  to  get  power,  or  for  a  minority  principle  to  get 


PEN-PORTBAITS.  335 

itself  enacted  into  a  law,  is  either  to  yield  and  trim,  or  to  set 
up  independently,  and  defy  opposition.  It  is  just  as  clear  as 
any  thing  can  be  in  politics,  that  the  prohibitory  party  and 
principle  are  in  a  minority  in  Massachusetts.  The  onl}-  time 
the  issue  has  been  tried  since  the  first  Maine  Law  was  passed 
(in  1852),  the  law  was  buried  beneath  an  adverse  majorit}' 
of  thirt}'  thousand  or  forty  thousand.  It  may  not  be  polite  to 
say  so  ;  but  he  is  a  fool  who  denies  or  doubts  this.  William 
B.  Spooner  don't  doubt  it ;  neither  does  Judge  Pitman. 

Mr.  Spooner  and  Mr.  Pitman  represent  these  two  ways  of 
getting  ahead  in  the  prohibitory  line.  Mr.  Spooner  is  will- 
ing to  yield  and  trim.  He  did  his  best  to  procure  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  law,  and,  for  a  time,  carried  men  enough  with  him 
to  control  the  issue.  Mr.  Pitman  is  not  willing  to  yield  or 
trim  :  if  others  do  so,  he  will  acquiesce  (as  in  the  exclusion 
of  cider  from  the  law) ,  but  with  a  sigh  of  regret  over  the 
weakness  of  poor  human  nature  ;  and  he  probably  feels  that 
such  a  yielding  only  postpones  the  day  of  independent  action. 
The  majorit}'  of  the  alliance  are  men  who  have  not  political 
sagacity  enough  to  win,  like  Mr.  Spooner,  nor  political  and 
moral  independence  enough,  like  Judge  Pitman,  to  set  up,  or 
even  contemplate  setting  up,  a  new  part}' ;  and  the  result  of 
their  control  is,  or  will  be,  the  ultimate  defeat  of  their  law 
and  their  cause,  so  far  as  they  are  intrusted  with  its  care. 

When  the  advocates  of  any  principle  or  measure  ascer- 
tain with  a  good  degree  of  certainty  that  one  large  partj'  is 
all  hostile  to  them,  and  a  still  largei  part}'  is  indifferent,  if 
not  hostile,  and  that  it  has  nothing  to  hope  in  the  way  of 
active  friendship  from  either,  there  are  only  two  sensible  waj-s 
of  proceeding  :  first,  to  accept  the  situation,  keep  as  much  of 
the  law  as  Ihc  people  will  tolerate,  execute  it  as  faithfully  as 
prudence  will  allow,  and  devote  attention  to  moral  and  intel- 
lectual and  social  methods  of  promotiug  their  reform  ;  or, 
second,  organize  independently,  and  try  to  get  out  of  the 
fears  of  parties  what  cannot  be  got  out  of  their  love. 

In  the  House,  a  majority  of  the  Republican  members  voted 
for  a  modification   of  the  old  law.    Almost  enough   of  its 


336  "WARRINGTON: " 

friends  broke  away  from  the  control  of  the  alliance,  and 
followed  Mr.  Spooner,  to  effect  their  object  in  spite  of  the 
votes  of  the  fifteen  or  twenty  Democrats  which  were  steadily 
given  for  the  law  in  all  its  strictness.  The  law  went  to  the 
Senate  ;  and  there  the  adherents  of  Mr.  Spooner' s  views  were 
still  stronger,  and  they  carried,  on  three  or  four  occasions,  a 
modification  of  the  law  :  whereupon,  b}-  a  union  of  Blifil  and 
Black  George,  the  law  was  killed.  It  was  too  prohibitive 
for  the  license  men,  and  too  liberal  for  the  prohibitive  men. 
Then  the  moderate  men  3'ielded,  reconsidered  their  votes, 
re-inserted  lager-beer,  and  passed  the  bill,  cider  only  ex- 
cluded. I  think  this  result  unfortunate,  especially'  in  its 
probable  effect  on  the  general  legislation  of  the  State.  B}^ 
political  machinery',  aided  by  that  inevitable  stupidity 
against  which  even  the  gods  are  powerless,  the  people  (who 
wanted  a  law  to  close  grog-shops  which  could  be  enfoi'ced, 
and  was  not  liable  to  repeal  ever}'  3'ear)  —  the  people  are 
baffled.  Thej^  have  got  to  try  again.  But  the  opportunity 
for  a  fair  trial  is  not  likely  to  come  just  j'et.  In  1867  a 
secret  society,  organized  b}'  the  grog-shop  interest,  had  the 
management  of  the  re-action  against  the  extravagances  of 
the  alliance  and  of  Constable  Jones,  left  without  control  as 
he  was  by  executive  discretion. 

This  State  police  has  a  queer  history.  It  was  in  Gov. 
Andrew's  brain  as  long  ago  as  December,  1860,  or  Januarj', 
1861,  when  he  found  himself  unable  to  put  down  Mayor 
Wightman's  mob  at  the  Tremont  Temple,  and  was  so  taken 
to  taslv  b}'  "Wendell  Phillips  for  not  going  behind  or  stretch- 
ing his  authority,  and  sending  down  a  military  force  to  the 
Temple  to  preserve  order.  "  Mr.  Phillips,"  said  the  govern- 
or, "  3-ou  are  a  lawj-er  ;  there  are  a  hundred  lawyers  within 
five  minutes'  walk  of  the  State  House :  if  j'ou,  or  any  one 
of  those  hundred  lawyers,  will  show  me  any  authorit}'  I 
possess  b}'  the  laws  of  the  State  to  put  down  the  riot,  I  will 
exercise  it  at  once."  Born  of  this  difllculty  was,  in  due 
time,  the  State  constabulary.  The  opportunity  came  when 
the  temperance  party  was  pressing  the  metropolitan  plan ; 


PEN  FOR  TRAITS.  337 

and  the  governor  interposed,  b}'  Mr.  Sawin  of  Natick,  this 
favorite  scheme  of  his. 

Sucli  an  organization  as  the  P.  L.  L.  could  not,  of  course, 
make  a  law  which  would  stand.  From  the  extreme  of  the 
deep  well  and  the  moss-covered  bucket  to  the  other  extreme 
of  the  red-hot  tumbler  of  rot-gut  was  too  much.  So,  taking 
advantage  of  a  presidential  election,  and  of  the  natural  dis- 
gust at  excessive  drinking,  the  legislature  of  1868  came  in, 
with  the  result  we  now  are  likel}^  to  see.  I  don't  predict 
any  such  overthi'ow  as  that  of  1867.  The  history  of  the 
P.  L.  L.  ought  to  go  for  something ;  but,  if  a  re-action  comes, 
who  will  be  to  blame  for  it  ?  Not  yon  or  I,  dear  Repuhlican. 
"We  can,  at  least,  have  our  "  I  told  3'ou  so,"  can  we  not? 
and,  more  than  that,  the  satisfaction  of  fighting  against  both 
these  pestilent  cliques.  The  legislation  of  the  State  suffers 
incalculabl}'  from  the  domination  of  secret  political  orders. 
Wliat  right  has  an  American  machinist,  or  shoemaker,  or 
laborer,  to  demean  himself  by  imitating  this  feudal  nonsense  ? 
It  is  bad  enough  for  Avealthy  men  and  aspiring  politicians  to 
get  up  such  high-sounding  organizations  :  an  American  self- 
respecting  democrat  ought  to  keep  out  of  them.  But  it 
remains  true  that  our  recent  legislatures,  besides  being 
unnecessaril}'  spun  out,  are  too  largel}'  composed  of  men 
who  are  nominated  b}-  secret  cliques.  The  head-centre  of 
the  rot-gut  division  of  the  P.  L.  L.  gets  here  one  j'ear,  and 
is  succeeded  hy  the  grand  perpetual  secretary  of  the  inde- 
pendent order  of  water-drinkers.  What  these  gentlemen 
think  of  railroad  policy,  insurance  policy,  suffrage,  the  har- 
bors and  flats,  the  judiciary-,  and  other  questions  of  general 
interest,  is  of  no  consequence  compared  with  their  views  of 
what  it  is  expedient  for  a  man  to  eat  and  drink. 

The  worshipful  grand  fuddj'-duddys  of  both  the  temper- 
ance and  rum  organizations  are  pretty  sure  to  be  small  men, 
and  unfit  for  public  affairs.  And  here  is  the  secret  of  the 
crude  legislation  of  recent  years,  which  I  would  not  by  any 
means  exaggerate  ;  for  I  do  not  think  so  poorly  of  our  laws 
as  man}"  people  profess  to.     If  they  are  not  the  perfection 


338  "WARRINGTON:" 

of  wisdom,  the  grand  average  of  political  intelligence  in  the 
Commonwealth  makes  them,  on  the  whole,  tolerabl}^  wise,  and 
generally  in  accordance  with  a  good  state  of  public  opinion, 

Practicall}',  the  people  of  the  State  stand  precisel}^  where 
Ensign  Stebbins  stood  in  1852  (and  I  use  this  illustration 
because  it  is  my  own  thunder  ;  and,  having  become  a  standard 
political  joke,  I  am  disposed  to  reclaim  it).  The  ensign's 
famous  declaration  occurred  in  a  letter  to  the  Mayor  of  Sac- 
carap :  he  avowed  himself  in  favor  of  the  Maine  Law,  but 
opposed  to  its  enforcement.  So  long  as  the  sale  of  liquor 
was  practically  unrestrained,  the  law  was  not  unpopular 
enough  to  excite  any  special  commotion ;  the  moment  it 
began  to  be  enforced  to  the  inconvenience  of  temperate  men, 
it  had  to  go  down.  It  never  went  upon  all-fours,  or  had  any 
very  logical  basis ;  it  did  not  even  follow  out  closely  in  its 
terms  the  prohibition  theor}' ;  and,  so  far  as  it  did  go,  it  could 
not  be  impartially  executed.  It  is  eas}'  enough  to  denounce 
Major  Jones,  or  whoever  was  responsible,  for  sparing  the 
tables  at  Parker's,  and  shutting  up  the  bars  ;  for  stopping 
perpendicular  drinking,  and  consenting  to  other  kinds.  There 
are  some  things  which  no  police  force,  or  even  military  force, 
can  do.  And  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  laws 
ought  to  be  executed,  or  are  made  to  be  executed.  You 
might  as  well  say  all  guide-boards  are  made  to  be  obej'cd, 
and  that  whoever  persists  in  taking  the  wrong  road  to  Feed- 
ing Hills  or  Mittineague  ought  to  be  mulcted  in  a  heavy 
fine. 

More  Ictws  are  disobeyed  than  obeyed.  This  is  no  reason 
for  not  enacting  them,  but  a  good  reason  for  caution  in 
enacting.  As  Coleridge  was  not  afraid  of  ghosts,  because 
he  had  seen  too  many  of  them,  so  men  who  see  the  making 
of  a  great  many  laws  get  to  have  small  respect  for  them  at 
last,  —  for  them  as  laws  :  I  mean,  when  not  backed  up  bj', 
and  representative  of,  common  sense  and  public  opinion. 
The  law  should  be  a  "terror  to  evil-doers"  undoubtedly; 
but  it  cannot  alwaj's  be  a  pxinisher  of  evil  doers.  It  is 
common  enough  to  hear  it  said  that  the   prohibitory  law 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  339 

ought  to  be  impartially  enforced  :  it  is  a  sufficient  answer  to 
say  that  it  cannot  be.  That  "blockhead  of  a  word,"  as 
Napoleon  called  it,  —  the  word  "  impossible,"  — is  written  on 
the  statute  as  it  now  stands,  and  in  the  present  condition  of 
society.  The  question  of  regulating  the  sale  of  liquor  is 
clearl}-  one  of  the  great  questions  of  the  next  era.  Earnest 
and  sagacious  men,  Avhose  convictions  are  definite  on  the 
subject,  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  making  preparations  for 
the  new  issue,  but  are  to  be  commended,  rather.  Such  men, 
at  once  speculative  and  practical  (by  "practical"  I  mean 
familiar  with  public  aflfairs,  not  "  thinking  as  I  do"),  are 
the  most  useful  men  in  the  community. 

GUBERNATORIAL   VOTES    FROM    18G0   TO    1870. 

The  Republican  party  was  organized  here  as  early  as  1855, 
though  in  that  year  it  failed  to  carr}'  the  State  against  the 
Know-Nothings.  In  185G  it  carried  the  State  b}'  an  over- 
whelming majoi'ity  for  Fremont ;  but,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  bargains  and  coalitions  which  were  made  with  the 
adherents  of  Gardner  and  with  the  Fremont  American 
part}-,  it  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  "fairly"  organized 
even  in  that  year.  In  1857  Gardner  still  persisted  ia 
running  as  the  American  candidate ;  and  the  Republicans 
made  a  fight  against  him  under  Banks,  and  gave  the  latter 
a  plurality  of  23,000, — just  about  the  same  as  it  gave  Gov. 
Claflin  in  18G9.  Yet  this  \QTy  year  it  was  in  a  minorit}-  of 
8,700  votes ;  Beach,  the  Democratic  candidate,  receiving 
31,000  votes.  Not  until  1859  was  the  Republican  part}-  in  a 
fixed  and  settled  majority  in  this  State.  This  year  it  gave 
Banks  23,500  majority  over  the  Democratic  candidate,  and 
about  9,000  over  him  and  Ex-Gov.  Briggs,  who  ran  on  some 
sort  of  an  anti-board-of-education  ticket,  got  up  mainly  in 
Bristol  County  and  thereabout.  This  brings  us  to  18G0  ;  and 
this  year,  again,  there  were  three  parties,  — Douglas  Demo- 
crat (35,000  votes),  Bell  and  Everett  (2-1,000),  and  Breckin- 
ridge Democrat  (6,100).  Gov.  Andrew  received  104,000,  or 
39,000  majority  over  them  all,  or  about  63,000  over  the  two 


340  "WAREINGTOIT:" 

Democratic  candidates.  Next  j'car  we  had  only  two  parties ,' 
and  Gov.  Andrew  received  65,000  votes,  and  a  majority  of 
34,000.  Tliis  was  tlie  smallest  Republican  vote  since  the 
party  was  "  fairl}''  "  organized  ;  though,  on  account  of  the  de- 
pressed condition  of  the  Democrats,  the  majorit}'  was  large. 

In  1862  we  had  the  bitter  contest  with  Joel  Parker's  party ; 
and  Gov.  Andrew  received  79,835  votes  ;  and  Gen.  Devens, 
54,167  :  majority,  25,668.  In  1863  our  majority  went  np  to 
41,276;  Gov.  Andrew  receiving  70,483  (less  than  Gov. 
Claflin  in  1869),  and  the  Democratic  candidate  29,207.  In 
1864  Andrew's  vote  went  up  from  70,000  to  125,000,  the 
other  side  having  49,000  :  Republican  majority,  76,000.  In 
1865,  Gov.  Bullock's  first  j^ear  as  a  candidate,  our  vote  went 
down  from  125,000  to  70,000  again;  and  still  our  majority 
was  over  49*, 000,  the  Democratic  vote  being  only  21,000. 
In  1866  we  increased  our  vote  to  92,000,  and  our  majority 
to  65,341  ;  the  Democratic  vote  being  onl}^  slightly  increased 
up  to  26,000.  Now  comes  1867,  when,  under  the  liquor-law 
excitement,  and  in  spite  of  the  "off  year,"  our  vote  went 
up  from  92,000  to  98,000,  and  the  Democratic  vote  jumped 
from  26,000  to  70,000,  leaving  our  majority  only  28,000. 
In  1868  Gov.  Claflin  received  132,121  votes;  and  Adams, 
63,266  :  Republican  majority,  68,855.  And  now  (in  1869) 
the  Republican  vote  has  gone  down  to  about  73,000,  and  the 
Democratic  to  about  50,000.  (I  have  not  the  figures  at 
hand.)  The  Labor  candidate  receives  15,000  votes  ;  and  if 
we  suppose,  which  is  but  fair,  I  think,  that  9,000  of  them 
were  cast  by  Republicans,  we  shall  find  the  actual  Republican 
majority  to  be  about  25,000,  —  larger  than  that  of  1858  or 
1859,  the  same  as  1862,  and  nearl}'  as  large  as  that  of 
1867.  And,  when  we  remember  that  the  vote  of  1867  was 
45,000  larger  than  that  of  1869,  we  shall  see  that  our  peril 
and  our  loss  were  much  greater  in  1867  than  in  the  present 
year. 

I  do  not  disagree  with  "  Templeton  "  ^  as  to  the  causes  of 

1  George  H.  Monroe. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  341 

our  comparative  weakness  within  tlie  last  three  j-ears.  The 
h'quor  law  is  the  great  cause  of  the  trouble  ;  and  the  reason 
why  our  majorit}-  is  substantially  greater  than  it  was  in  1867 
is  because  the  Republican  party  is  less  entangled  with  the 
question  of  prohibition  than  it  was  in  that  3'ear,  and,  I  may 
add,  because  Gov.  Claflin  is  less  entangled  with  it  than  Gov. 
Bullock  was.  It  is  of  no  use,  however,  to  disguise  the  fact, 
that,  since  the  war  ended,  the  Democratic  party  has  strength- 
ened itself  without  regard  to  the  liquor  question.  There 
has  generally  been,  say  for  the  last  twent}'  years,  a  Demo- 
cratic party  of  about  40,000  votes,  which  in  an  emergency, 
and  joining  with  disgruntled  Republicans,  could  make  its 
footings  about  50,000.  It  gave  McClellan  this  number  in 
1804,  and  the  people's  party  mustered  rather  more  in  1862. 
Then  the  Irish  vote  has  largelj'  increased  year  by  year. 
Johnson's  defection  in  1866  gave  the  party  hopes  of  success 
in  the  coining  presidential  election  ;  and,  though  things  were 
not  ripe  then  for  a  strong  movement,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
the  next  3'ear,  under  Mr.  Adams,  the}-  brought  their  vote  up 
to  70,000,  and  our  majority  down  to  28,000. 

[July  20, 1870.] 
REV.    J.    D.    FULTON   AND    HIS    ECUMENICAL    COUNCIL. 

Of  course  j'ou  have  seen  and  relished  the  full  report  of 
Fulton's  speech  at  the  meeting  of  Baptist  ministers  called 
to  settle  the  question  whether  Rev.  Mr.  Murra}'  was  acting 
according  to  evangelical  ideas  in  saying  a  good  word  for 
Charles  Dickens  ;  and,  as  a  corollary,  whether  Fulton  and 
Dunn  were  justified  in  sending  the  novelist  to  hell,  as  they 
did  so  recently,  and  with  such  self-suflicieut  unction.  Inci- 
dental to  this  question  was  the  one,  whether  the  novelist 
aforesaid  was  really  undergoing  the  punishment  appointed 
for  all  men  who  satirize  the  clergy  and  drink  wine.  The 
meeting  did  not  decide  this  last  question  ;  Dr.  Murdock's 
suggestion,  that  it  be  left  to  the  Almighty  "with  full  pow- 
ers," being  considered  a  wise  one  hy  all  except  Fulton,  who 


342  "  WARRINGTON: " 

has  no  idea  of  leaving  such  matters  to  the  Almighty ;  at  any 
rate,  without  his  aid  in  the  shape  of  advice. 

At  first  thought,  it  seems  sad  that  Dickens  cannot  read 
the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  especially  Fulton's  speech. 
But,  after  all,  the  wonderful  humorist  knew  Fulton  inti- 
mately. As  Shakspeare  knew  all  the  Dogbenys,  all  the  Cades, 
all  the  Touchstones,  all  the  Pistols,  all  the  Fluellens,  all  the 
Gobbos,  that  had  gone  before  or  would  come  after  him,  so 
did  Dickens  know  Fulton.  The  primal  ass  involves,  includes, 
prophesies,  all  asses,  from  the  creation  of  the  world  down- 
ward or  upward.  Dr.  Murdock,  Dr.  Neale,  Dr.  Edd}-,  and 
the  rest,  though  provoked,  no  doubt,  at  being  put  into  such 
a  position,  must  have  secretly  enjoj'ed  the  meeting,  and 
especially  Fulton's  speech.  AYho  could  help  enjoying  it? 
Satire  pales  its  ineffectual  fires  before  such  a  sublime  realit}'. 
Do  5'ou  know  that  I  claim  to  have  been  the  first  discoverer 
of  Fulton?  and  I  flatter  mj-self  that  I  have  brought  him 
out.  Nothing  in  his  discussions  of  the  woman  question  has 
at  all  equalled  his  scintillations  since  Dickens  died.  He 
seems  to  be  conscious  that  he  has  a  genius  for  donke^hood 
which  nobod}'  else  approaches.  No  newspaper  can  afford  to 
ignore  Fulton.  He  is  an  institution  which  must  hencefor- 
ward be  acknowledged. 

Isn't  it  a  little  odd,  bj'  the  way,  that  his  demonstration  is 
so  coincident  in  point  of  time  with  the  poor  old  Pope's 
assumption  of  his  infallibility?  You  are  reminded  a  little 
of  Don  Quixote  and  Sancho  Panza,  though  Fulton  is  not  a  fol- 
lower of  Pius  the  Ninth.  Not  he.  He  is  an  opposition  pope. 
He  keeps  the  shop  over  the  way.  He  shows  up  the  Pope 
ever}'  other  week,  alternating  him  with  Dickens.  He  is  not 
so  powerful,  however,  as  the  Roman  Pope.  The  latter  sets 
all  Europe  at  loggerheads :  Fulton  only  sets  all  America 
into  fits  of  inextinguishable  laughter.  Everybody  was  on 
the  broad  grin  yesterday  and  the  day  before.  "  Ho,  ho ! 
Look  here,  old  fellow:  have  a'ou  seen  'The  Advertiser'?" 
— ' '  What  ?  Oh,  yes  !  Fulton !  Haw,  haw,  haw  ! ' '  One  man 
stumbles  against  another,  nearly  knocking  him  down,  and, 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  343 

as  he  begs  pardon,  bursts  out  laughing,  "  Excuse  me,  sir  ;  but 
I  was  thinking  of  Fulton:  seen  the  report  of  his  speech?  " 
— '"Oh,  yes!  very  funny!  No  consequence,  sir.  Good- 
morning!" —  "Halloo!  Come  in  here  !  Want  to  show  ^'ou 
something." —  "  What's  that?  Oh!  I  know  —  Fulton  ! 
Good  gracious  !  don't  30U  suppose  I've  seen  that !  IIo,  ho, 
ho !  "  And  so  it  went,  up  and  down  the  streets.  I  doubt 
whether  "  Pickwick  "  itself  ever  made  people  so  good-natured. 
As  Dickens's  death  "  eclipsed  the  gayety  of  nations,"  so 
Fulton's  exploits  eclipsed  the  sun  itself.  Heat  was  forgot- 
ten, the  soda-shops  neglected,  and  men  were  as  willing  to 
wear  thick  clothes  as  thin  ones.  It  was  "all  along"  of 
Fulton  and  his  ecumenical  council  that  Boston  was  so  good- 
natured  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday.  But  Fulton  was  voted 
down.  Pius  Ninth  is  declared  infallible  ;  but  Dr.  Murdock, 
speaking  the  solid  sense  of  the  Baptist  clerg}^,  sa3-s,  "  Let  us 
leave  the  question  of  Dickens  and  his  soul  to  the  Almightj^, 
with  full  powers."  Fort}'  to  one,  the  council  sa3's  Amen  to 
Dr.  Murdock,  and  Fulton  goes  home  to  write  another  shriek- 
ing sermon  for  the  Tremont-Temple  conventicle.  You  don't 
know  Fulton  if  you  suppose  he  is  going  to  leave  it  to  the 
Almight}'.  Not  he.  Tremont  Temple  is  a  co-ordinate 
branch  of  the  divine  government,  in  his  opinion  ;  and  Dick- 
ens will  not  be  saved  with  his  consent.  He  hopes  for  better 
things  than  that.  Fulton  himself  is  a  fore-ordained  and 
predestined  blackguard ;  and,  if  he  is  ever  redeemed,  the 
grace  of  God  will  have  one  of  its  greatest  personal  and 
historical  triumphs. 


[Oct.  19.] 

JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS   AND   THE   DEMOCRATS. 

Mr.  Adams's  letter  previous  to  the  convention,  written 
in  grave  st3-le,  — grave  as  his  great-grandfather's  "  Novan- 
glus  "  Essays  before  the  Revolution;  graver,  according  to 
my  imperfect  recollection  of  those  productions,  —  gave  the 
impression  that  he  was  anxious  to  withdraw  from  the  field. 


344  ''WARRINGTON:" 

It  is  doubtful  if  this  is  so.  He  informed  Judge  Abbott  that 
he  should  not  be  a  candidate,  and  volunteered  to  aid  the 
judge  ;  but  afterward  changed  his  mind  (for  good  reasons, 
no  doubt) ,  and  denied  that  he  was  out  of  the  way.  Mr, 
Adams  is  not  a  fit  candidate  for  any  party  that  makes  pi'e- 
teusions  to  contest  the  field.  To  be  a  political  leader,  a 
man  must  at  least  put  on  a  pretence  of  earnestness,  if  he  be 
not  really  in  earnest.  He  may  be  an  office-seeker,  and  a 
corruptionist,  ready  to  buy  and  sell,  to  be  bought  and  sold ; 
but  he  must  at  least  believe  in  his  party,  if  in  nothing  else. 
Mr.  Adams  believes  in  nothing.  He  has  not  even  an  out- 
ward show  of  respect  for  the  commonest  public  opinion. 
The  language  of  trifling  is  his  natural  tongue.  He  is  a 
humorist,  I  admit ;  but  the  greatest  humorists  have  been 
earnest  men,  while  he  is  earnest  in  nothing  but  mocker3^ 
No  one  cares  less  than  he  about  the  "  heathen  Chinee  ;  "  yet 
he  takes  up  the  cr}'  against  them  as  glibly  as  if  he  believed 
in  it.  Nobody  cares  less  than  he  about  taxes  (except  those 
paid  by  the  Adams  family) ,  or  the  tariff,  or  railroad  grants, 
or  the  prosperity  of  the  shipyards,  or  long  sessions  of  the 
legislature,  or  any  thing  else  talked  about  in  his  letter. 
His  bluster  about  the  lobb}'  and  the  railroad  loans  is  posi- 
tively funn}' ;  and  anybod}^  who  recollects  how  valiantlj^  he 
opposed  the  grant  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  repair- 
ing Provincetown  Harbor,  and  how  suddenly  he  caved  in 
after  having  being  taken  down  to  the  Cape  on  a  junketing 
excursion,  will  appreciate  his  talk  about  the  veto-power. 
He  veto  a  railroad-grant !  Well,  that  is  a  good  one  !  What 
if  he  should?  Judging  by  "  The  Post,"  oxij  "  plan  of  plun- 
der" would  receive  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  Democrats  in 
the  legislature  ;  and  a  veto  Avould  be  of  no  service  in  defend- 
ing the  public  treasury  without  Republican  aid.  Sessions 
dragged  out  till  midsummer  indeed !  How  is  Gov.  Adams 
to  stop  the  extension  ?  Members  of  his  party  are  invariably 
the  greatest  obstructionists  as  well  as  the  greatest  corrup- 
tionists,  and  Adams  knows  it ;  and  he  is  an  arrant  humbug 
for  pretending  the  contrary. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  345 

Reform  in  the  civil  service !  This  is  to  be  effected  by  a 
Democratic  restoration,  it  seems.  Fanc}',  if  30U  can,  Charles 
G.  Greene,  Charles  Levi  Woodbur}-,  James  S.  Whitney-, 
Patrick  A.  Collins,  J.  M.  Keith,  A.  O.  Brewster,  and  J.  Q. 
Adams,  sitting  down  after  the  election  of  John  T.  Hoffman 
to  the  presidenc}',  and  draughting  a  civil-service  bill ;  or 
writing  a  letter  to  J.  T.  H.,  requesting  him  to  order  com- 
l^etitive  examinations  for  the  Boston  Custom  House.  Does 
not  satire  pale  its  ineffectual  fires  here  ?  What  in  the  world 
is  Adams  quarrelling  with  the  Republicans  for?  He  sa3-s  he 
knows  that  "most  of  the  wise  and  conservative  men  of  the 
Republican  party"  are  against  the  prohibitory  law;  but 
they  would  not  say  so  in  their  resolutions :  so  he  goes  for  a 
party  which  makes  a  declaration  for  the  purpose  of  catching 
votes,  and  which  never  can  have  the  power  to  affect  the 
question  legislatively,  one  waj-  or  the  other.  O  Jack,  Jack  ! 
wh}'  didn't  you  carry  out  your  first  sensible  intention,  and 
wait  "two  3"ears  "  before  you  full}'  made  up  your  mind  on 
which  side  you  would  exercise  3our  powerful  and  "effectual 
intervention  in  national  affairs ' '  ? 

Mr.  Adams  was  one  of  tlie  Jack-at-a-pinch  nominations, 
caught  up  in  an  emergency  in  1867 ;  and,  the  liquor  issue 
having  died  out,  he  does  not  now  represent  an3'  thing  in  the 
part}'.  Nothing  justifies  such  a  departure  from  the  Demo- 
cratic traditions,  except  success  ;  and  Mr.  Adams,  though  he 
has  run  well,  has  not  succeeded.  He  has  a  wholesome  con- 
tempt for  everybod3-,  —  rather  too  much  of  it,  in  fact ;  and 
it  is  impossible  to  make  a  Democrat  of  him,  though  he  is 
anti-Republican  enough.  No  wonder  he  wants  to  get  rid 
of  the  honor  of  a  fourth  campaign.  Next  comes  T.  H. 
Swcetser,  who  Avas  the  candidate  before  Mr.  Adams.  Mr. 
Sweetser  is  a  law3'er,  and  one  of  the  best ;  not  speciall}-  a 
student  of  politics  like  Mr.  Adams,  but  capable  of  studying 
it.  He  has  no  more  belief  in  human  nature  than  Mr. 
Adams  (probabl3'  not  so  much) ,  but  is  a  good  deal  more  in 
earnest  in  any  enterprise  he  engages  in.  He,  too,  is  no 
Democrat.     He  was  in  the  Chicago  Convention  of  18G0,  led 


346  "WARRINGTON:" 

there  b}'  bis  batred  of  Gov.  Banks,  of  whom  there  was  then 
some  fear.  He  soon,  this  danger  over,  relapsed  into  hunk- 
erism,  which  is  his  native  element.  He  is  an  able,  con- 
temptuous, independent,  fearless  man  ;  but  would  be  a  poor 
governor  on  a  good  man}^  accounts. 

Then  there  is  William  "Wirt  Warren  of  Brighton.  He  is 
a  smart  young  law3-er,  in  good  practice,  and  personally- 
clever,  but  is  not  known  widel}'.  And  Charles  Levi  Wood- 
bur}-,  who  is  a  man  of  the  world,  a  reader  and  scholar,  a 
good  speaker,  who  is  invariabl}-  listened  to  with  interest. 
He  is  not,  perhaps,  a  man  of  strong  convictions  as  to 
principles  (though  in  this  I  think  he  has  the  advantage  of 
the  other  men  I  have  named  ;  for  he  argued  the  Sunday 
library  and  the  reading  and  writing  questions  like  a  man 
who  thoroughl}^  believed  what  he  said,  and  he  argued  them 
also  with  skill  and  ability)  ;  but  he  has  the  advantage  of 
being  a  strict  part3'  man.  He  believes  the  Democratic 
traditions.  This  is  very  much  better  than  to  believe  in 
nothing.  A  partj'  man  generall}'  has  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility to  his  organization ;  and  his  party,  if  national,  is 
alwaj-s  respectable,  and  represents  widelj-  a  popular  feeling 
and  impulse.  He  is  kept  hy  this  sense  of  responsibility  at 
his  work,  and  makes  a  better  executive  or  legislative  officer 
than  if  he  were  at  loose  ends  and  floating  about.  If  a  man 
is  not  a  great  genius,  and  capable  of  constructing  and  lead- 
ing a  part}',  he  had  better  quietl}'  follow  it,  and  do  the  best 
he  can.  Mr.  "Woodbury  would  make  a  respectable  repre- 
sentative candidate,  and  not,  as  Choate  said  of  the  harness, 
a  "good,  sound,  substantial  second-hand  one,"  either;  for 
he  is  fresh,  never  having  held  an  elective  office. 


[Nov.  30.] 
STATESMEN    AND    POLITICIANS. 

Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  in  "  Old  and  New,"  lays 
down  with  great  unction  the  distinction  between  the  states- 
man and  politician,  when,  in  fact,  there  is  no  such  distinction. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  347 

The  words  are  sj-nonymous.  It  suits  the  purposes  of  certain 
dilettanti  to  attach  a  low  meaning  to  politician,  and  a  high 
one  to  statesman :  that  is  all.  To  show  the  absurdity  of 
Mr.  Clarke's  attempted  distinction,  it  is  only  necessar}'  to 
look  at  his  examples  of  statesmen.  He  sa3-s  a  politician 
is  a  man  who  thinks  of  the  next  election,  while  the  states- 
man thinks  of  the  next  generation.  Jefferson  and  Hamilton, 
he  thinks,  were  statesmen  :  so  were  Ja}'  and  John  Adams. 
Yet  one  half  the  people  in  their  day  thought  Jefferson  a 
politician  of  the  lowest  order,  and  the  other  half  thought 
no  better  of  Hamilton ;  and  both  these  men  thought  as  much 
of  the  next  election  as  ever  Stephen  A.  Douglas  did.  Nor 
do  I  think  it  can  be  denied  that  Mr.  Webster  was  a  states- 
man. No  man  ever  took  more  thought  than  Mr.  "Webster 
for  the  next  election,  or  less  for  the  next  generation.  Charles 
Sumner  was  a  statesman  and  a  politician  too. 

Mr.  Clarke  might  find  a  distinction  between  the  statesman 
or  politician  and  the  publicist ;  but  there  is  none,  either  in 
theory  or  practice  or  in  histor}-,  between  the  two  classes  he 
tries  to  set  against  each  other :  and  there  is  no  end  to  the 
mischief  he,  and  such  as  he,  does  by  attempting  to  fix  a 
stigma  upon  the  word  "politics"  and  the  business  of  man- 
aging public  affairs.  I  believe  the  politicians  of  Massachu- 
setts are  the  most  honest  and  useful  men  in  the  State,  and 
that  a  man  who  attains  a  position  of  usefulness  among  them 
is  sure  to  be  a  man  of  character  and  worth.  Instead  of  turn- 
ing up  their  noses  at  politicians,  such  men  had  better  become 
politicians  themselves,  and  not  leave  the  business  of  govern- 
ment to  the  baser  sort  of  politicians,  who  take  up  with  it 
because  better  men  will  not.  Just  now  we  are  having  one 
of  our  periodical  spasms  of  sniffing,  snuffling  virtue  b}' 
clergymen,  college  professors,  half-naturalized  English  or 
Irish  editors,  half-graduated  fools  from  the  colleges,  about 
the  politicians.  Now,  if  these  new  dictionary-malvcrs,  wiser 
than  Worcester  or  Webster,  would  define  politician  and 
statesman  according  to  their  real  idea,  they  would  say  some- 
thing like  this:  "A  politician,  for  example,  is  a  man  who 


348  '"WARRINGTON:" 

reads  '  The  New- York  Tribune ; '  a  statesman,  one  wlio 
reads  '  The  New- York  Nation.'  A  politician  is  a  man  who 
belongs  to  a  part}^  holds  office,  seeks  for  it  sometimes,  does 
as  well  as  he  can  to  carry  on  public  affairs,  guides  when  he 
can,  and  drifts  when  he  must :  a  statesman  is  a  man  who 
talks  loftily  about  the  corruptions  of  politics,  keeps  away 
from  the  elections,  prophesies  evil  continuallj^,  reads  books 
on  minority  representation,  deplores  the  tendency  to  democ- 
racy, has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  the  unwashed,  thinks 
there  ought  to  be  some  new  restriction  on  voting,  rather 
regrets  that  we  ever  undertook  an}'  democratic  experi- 
ments; "  and  so  on. 

Mr.  Clarke  is  not  naturally  with  this  sort  of  men ;  but  he 
has  fallen  into  their  canting  waj-s  in  the  article  I  have 
referred  to.  Here  is  another  of  his  brilliant  definitions : 
"The  politician  believes  in  the  newspaper;  the  statesman, 
in  the  people."  Yet  Hamilton  and  Ja}'  and  Webster 
notoriously'  did  not  believe  in  the  people.  Jefferson  did, 
and  so  was  called  a  demagogue  and  a  politician  b}-  the 
Federalists.  I  should  like  to  know  how  a  man  can  believe 
in  the  people,  usefully,  without  reading  the  people's  news- 
paper, and  believing  in  it  to  the  extent  of  studjing  it  to  find 
out  what  the  people  believe  in  and  desire.  A  "  statesman  " 
who  should  confine  his  political  reading  to  Benton's  "De- 
bates" and  "  The  Federalist,"  and  Bentham  and  Mill  and 
Bastiat,  and  the  congressional  documents,  and  Niles's 
"Register,"  and  the  files  of  "The  Richmond  Enquirer," 
to  the  neglect  of  the  New- York  and  Chicago  and  Boston  and 
Springfield  newspapers,  —  well,  he  might  as  well  confine 
himself  to  ' '  The  New- York  Nation  ' '  and  the  letters  of  the 
Yale  professors,  and  done  with  it.  The  politician  may  be 
"  very  near-sighted  ;  "  but  better  that  than  altogether  blind. 
I  have  the  misfortune  to  believe  that  the  politicians  are  as 
good  as  the  people  the}'  represent ;  and  that  when  the 
people  rise  (as  the}-  did  in  this  State  in  1855  and  1867),  and 
throttle  the  politicians,  the  State  is  rather  worse  off  than  if 
they  had  been  let  alone. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  349 

[Dec.  7.] 
MR.    WILLIAM    GRAY    AND    TUB    CITY    ELECTION. 

Mr.  William  Gray  went  to  his  house  and  his  bed  ou  Mon- 
day night  evidently  in  a  very  self-satisfied  condition  of 
mind.  He  had  emerged,  for  this  time  onh',  from  his  com- 
fortable dwelling-house,  in  order  to  take  a  part  in  politics. 
He  had  been  complimented  with  the  presidency  of  a  citizens' 
caucus.  He  had  met  with  these  citizens  ;  and,  "  upon  in- 
quiry," these  citizens  had  satisfied  themselves  that  Mr. 
Gaston  was  the  man  for  their  mone}'.  Accordingly,  they 
had  nominated  him  for  mayor ;  and  Mr.  Gray  had  written 
him  a  letter,  clothed  in  Harvard-college  English,  to  which 
Mr.  Gaston  had  replied  in  the  same  polite  and  unexceptiona- 
ble tongue.  The  business  of  the  caucus  having  been  finished, . 
Mr.  Gray  had  been  thanked  for  the  able,  impartial,  and  dig- 
nified manner  in  which  he  had  presided  ;  and  to  this  vote  of 
thanks  he  had  replied  in  a  speech  characterized  b}'  the  great- 
est decorum,  and  suflflcientl}^  pointed  to  be  interrupted  once 
or  twice  by  "  applause."  Mr.  Gray  had  declared  to  his 
caucus,  that,  in  his  opinion,  an  importance  had  attached  to 
it  "  much  bc^'ond  the  present  election,  or  any  single  election 
which  ever  has  been  or  ever  can  be  held."  Gracefully  refer- 
ring to  the  fame  and  character  of  "  the  old  city  of  Boston," 
Mr.  Gray  deprecated  the  approach  of  the  day  when  it  should 
be  necessary  for  the  Commonwealth  to  govern  it  by  com- 
missions, as  the  State  of  New  York  governs  the  city  of  New 
York;  but  he  feared  that  day  would  come,  "if  we"  (the 
caucus  aforesaid)  "  are  unfaithful  to  our  duties."  He  deli- 
catel}'  referred  to  the  charge  which  had  been  made,  that  per- 
sons of  independence  and  public  spirit  (like  Mr.  Gray)  could 
have  no  influence  in  our  primaiy  meetings :  he  would  not 
undertake  to  say  whether  this  charge  is  true  or  not.  Some 
one  here  aided  him  a  little  to  form  a  judgment  on  the  matter 
by  crying  out,  "  True,  true,  true  !  "  Self-poised,  and  by  no 
means  allowing  himself  to  be  swa3'ed  from  his  condition  of 
doubtfulness  ou  this  point,    ]\Ir.  Gray  proceeded,  on   firm 


350  "WARRINGTON:" 

ground,  to  say,  or  rather  to  "  undertake  to  say,"  that  *'  this 
convention,  formed  almost  by  iin  accident,  in  consequence 
of  the  meeting  of  a  few  individuals  of  Ward  Eleven  at  the 
St.  James  Hotel,"  had  become  a  body,  "which,  in  point  of 
character  and  respectabilit}',  decorum,  and  kindliness  of  feel- 
ing,' cannot  be  surpassed  anywhere."  "I  came  here  a 
stranger  to  almost  everj'  one  of  you,"  said  Mr.  Gra}',  "  and 
most  of  you  were  strangers  to  me  as  I  was  to  you  ;  j'Ct,  with 
different  opinions,  we  came  together  with  an  honest  purpose,  — 
to  select  honest,  competent,  and  disinterested  men  for  public 
office,"  And,  warming  up  with  a  sense  of  the  prodigious 
magnitude  of  his  great  mission,  Mr.  Gray  went  on  to  say, 
that  if  we  could  see,  3^ear  after  year,  a  convention  as  earnest 
as  this  has  been,  "we  should  have  taken  a  step  in  advance 
of  any  thing  ever  taken  in  a  large  city  in  the  history  of 
republics."  Mr.  Gray  could  not  say  much  after  this;  and, 
after  thanking  the  caucus  for  its  kindness,  he  closed  his 
speech,  and  went  home  and  to  bed  with  emotions  which  are 
easier  conceived  than  described. 

This  is  all  laughable  enough  to  those  who  know  that  the 
Mercantile-hall  movement  is  entitled  to  no  greater  respect 
than  the  score  of  Parker-house  committees,  Faneuil-hall 
committees.  Republican  committees,  and  Democratic  com- 
mittees, which  have  got  together,  openly  or  secret!}',  to  con- 
trol city  politics  for  the  last  ten  j-ears.  How  the  wire-pullers 
of  the  caucus  must  have  laughed  in  their  sleeves  when 
Mr.  Gray  alluded  to  the  origin  of  the  committee,  —  "  almost 
by  accident"!  Ah!  Mr.  Gra}',  look  into  your  Pope,  and 
read, — 

"All  nature  is  but  art,  unknown  to  thee; 
All  chance,  direction  which  thou  canst  not  see." 

The  prospect  of  a  reform  in  city  politics  is,  notwithstand- 
ing Mr.  Gray's  speech,  very  poor  indeed.  Mr.  Gray  will 
not,  probably,  emerge  from  his  library  again,  until  he  deems 
his  presence  needful  in  the  next  tremendous  crisis  ;  or,  if  he 
does,  the  gentleman  from  Ward  Two  or  Ward  Seven,  the 
initial  of  whose  surname  is  Mac,  will  have  twice  as  much 


II 


h 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  351 

influence  as  he  with  the  Roxbury  law3'er  who  wrote  him  the 
polite  note  accepting  the  nominr.tion  for  mayor. 

PRES.    ELIOT    AND    HARVARD    COLLEGE    IN   1871. 

Prcs.  Eliot  is  said  to  be  a  good  deal  of  a  reformer ;  but 
he  has  not  3'et  reformed  the  st3-le  of  printing  the  order  of 
exercises  for  Commencement  Da3\  If  he  will  abolish  Prof. 
Lane,  or  whoever  is  the  author  of  the  outlandish  and  s^-m- 
bolical  Latin  which  appears  there,  he  will  do  good  service, 
even  to  the  graduates  of  the  college,  not  one  in  ten  of  whom 
can  tell  what  it  means.  And  if  a  graduate  trained  in  the 
classics  is  puzzled,  what  must  be  the  emotions  of  a  "lay- 
man "  !  Fancy  the  feelings  of  the  mother  of  Augustus  Jay, 
as  she  clasps  to  her  bosom  her  successful  first-born,  and 
finds,  when  he  produces  the  programme,  that  he  has  been 
transformed  into  "  Avgvstvs  Jay  "  !  "  My  dear  bo}',  how  u 
have  changed  ! "  she  will  say.  And  Samuel  Brearly's  father 
finds  his  son  transmogrified  into  "  Samvel,"  — a  parody  on 
Mr.  Weller,  jun.,  and  obliged  to  spell  his  name  with  a 
"  we  "  henceforth  !  Arthur  Rotch,  probably  styled  "  Art  " 
by  his  little  sisters,  has  become  "Arthvrvs."  "Art  is  long," 
sure  enough,  under  such  a  system.  Here  and  there,  a  young 
man  escapes.  Ilapp}'  Alexander  Robertson,  whose  name 
apparently  defies  this  barbarizing  process  !  The  names,  how- 
ever, are  comparatively  easy  to  make  out.  The  first  page 
is  a  complete  rebus.  Go  to,  "  Carolvm  Gvilielvm"  1  reform 
this  with  the  rest  of  j'our  reformings  ! 

These  young  men  at  Cambridge  doubtless  thought  them- 
selves ver}'  great  men ;  I  heard  their  3'oung  lad}'  friends 
murmur  "Splendid!"  once  in  a  while:  but  I  would  not 
trust  one  of  them  to  carry  a  point  in  town-meeting,  or 
get  a  delegation  elected  in  a  town-caucus.  Here  and  there, 
a  man  of  them  will  become  a  brilliant  scholar  or  writer : 
but  most  will  subside  into  lawj'crs'  oflSces,  to  be  beaten 
out  of  sight  by  some  3'oung  countrjraan  who  has  studied 
human  nature  all  his  life,  and  the  Revised  Statutes  two 
months ;   or  into  pulpits,  to  be  sneered  at  and  criticised, 


352  "  WARRINGTON: " 

and  finally  turned  out  to  grass ;  for  talent  goes  to  tlie 
world,  rather  than  to  the  church.  Fortunate  are  those 
who  discover  soon  that  the  world  is  the  best  pulpit  and 
rostrum,  and  betake  themselves  to  active  life,  forgetting 
their  Greek  and  Latin,  and,  if  necessary,  swearing  their 
way  into  usefulness. 

The  best  education  is  life  experience  and  work.  Of 
course,  if  a  boy  has  decided  genius  for  any  thing  which  can 
only  or  best  be  indulged  or  forwarded  by  a  college  course, 
he  ought,  if  possible,  to  try  that.  A  business  education  — 
not  trade,  as  it  is  commonly  called  —  is  best  for  body  and 
mind.  Cultivation  of  frankness  is  necessary :  nothing  is  so 
important  as  this,  especially  if  any  young  person  gets  into 
an}'  sort  of  difficulty.  Get  habits  of  industr}^,  and  leave  the 
rest  to  the  higher  powers. 

On  the  whole,  I  think  it  pays  very  well  to  take  a  ride  over 
to  Cambridge  on  Commencement  Day ;  and  though  the  col- 
lege turns  out  many  boobies,  or  rather  leaves  them  boobies 
as  it  finds  them,  it  is  a  noble  institution.  "We  who  have  no 
learning  see  a  great  many  graduates  who  excite  contempt,  and 
even  pity  ;  many  who  would  have  been  better  off  if  their  fond 
and  partial  parents  had  not  been  so  fond  and  partial,  but 
had  sent  them  into  a  Lowell  machine-shop,  or  into  a  flour- 
store  on  Long  Wharf,  or  put  them  on  a  horse-car  as  driver, 
or  steam-car  as  brakeman.  But  how  much  better  off  we 
should  be  with  the  acquirements  which  Harvard  College  could 
give  !  How  much  better  articles  and  letters  we  should  write  ! 
Occasionally,  I  find  it  convenient  to  use  a  Latin  phrase  ; 
and  when  I  look  into  the  back  part  of  my  Webster  or 
Worcester  (as  the  case  may  be ;  for  I  use  both,  and  so 
am  sure  of  "  the  best"),  and  see  that  I  quote  it  correctly 
and  properl}^,  I  feel  ashamed  of  m3'self,  because  I  feel  that 
I  am  guilty  of  a  false  pretence,  and  am  imposing  on  my 
readers  the  idea  that  I  know  something  of  the  classics.  But 
this  is  a  world  of  false  pretences  ;  and  I  half  suspect  that 
three-quarters  of  the  graduates  who  were  at  Cambridge  yes- 
terday would  not  venture  to  quote  a  common  Latin  maxim 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  353 

of  ten  words  without  doing  as  I  do.  "We  all  remember  how 
the  great  "Webster  and  the  great  Mann  were  at  loggerheads 
over  captatores  verborum,  and  how  Prof.  Felton  and  Prof. 
Beck  mixed  in  the  affray. 


354  ''WARRINGTON:' 


CHAPTER  XII. 

POLITICAL   SITUATION  IX  1872-1873;   AND  "WAEEINGTON" 
ABROAD. 

LETTER    TO    CHARLES    SUMNER.^ 

Dubuque,  To.,  June  24, 1872. 
My  dear  Senator,  — I  have  written  to  you  a  couple  of 
letters,  which  I  suppose  3-ou  received.  The  habit  of  obtrud- 
ing advice,  or  ratlier  opinions,  is  one  which  I  dare  say  I 
shall  never  recover  from  ;  and  I  don't  know  when  there  was 
ever  greater  occasion  for  a  man  to  sa}'  a  word  in  good  faith 
to  his  political  and  personal  friend,  or  for  a  follower  to  give 
such  advice  or  opinion  as  he  may  have  to  his  political  leader. 
I  left  Boston  three  weeks  ago,  just  after  3-our  speech  ap- 
peared. Let  me  tell  you  what  I  thought  and  think  of  it. 
Its  general  arraignment  of  Grant  and  the  administration 
seemed  to  me  just  and  needful.  I  have  not  changed  ray 
opinion  of  Grant  or  his  rule.  You  flattered  me  once  by 
saying  that  3'ou  wondered  how  I,  who  had  not  seen  them  at 
Washington,  or  with  any  close  view,  had  measured  them  so 
accurately.  The}^  have  never  harmed  me  ;  but  I  know  that 
the  President  is  unfit,  and  that  his  rule  is  a  bad  one.  I  put 
no  faith  in  the  theory,  that,  if  Grant  is  re-elected,  things  will 
be  better.  They  are  likel}'  to  be  worse, — intolerable  for 
such  men  as  3-ou  who  are  in  public  life,  dangerous  for  the 
whole  country.  Yet  there  is  public  virtue  enough  to  prevent 
anarchy  or  despotism,  either  now  or  four  j'ears  hence.  It 
would  not  surprise  me  if  the  same  reasons  which  compel  men 
to  support  Grant  now  should  make  him  a  candidate  again  in 

1  Never  before  printed. 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  355 

187G,  if  he  is  now  successful.  He  is  so  utterly  destitute  of 
appreciation  of  his  proper  position,  and  of  his  own  unfitness 
for  it,  that  it  would  be  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  con- 
tinue him  in  the  field.  How  long  the  country  could  stand 
him  is  indeed  a  question  ;  but  of  the  final  result  I  have  no 
doubt.     The  public  virtue  will  take  care  of  that  matter. 

But  to  finish  what  I  have  to  say  of  j'our  speech.  Some 
parts  of  it  seemed  a  little  overdone;  but  these  were  not  the 
most  important  parts.  I  thought  that  probabl}'  you  laid 
stress  and  emphasis  on  certain  things,  which,  if  you  had  not 
had  a  personal  grievance,  yo\x  would  have  overlooked.  I  do 
not  tliink  3'our  criticism  on  his  letter  to  the  colored  people 
was  quite  justifiable  ;  nor,  on  the  whole,  do  I  thinlc  that 
the  colored  people  liave  been,  considering  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation,  and  the  struggles  of  opinion  in  Congress  and  in  the 
party,  neglected.  Grant  has —  this  is  what  I  mean  —  fairly 
kept  pace  with  Congress  and  his  party  in  the  reconstruction 
polic}'.  I  believe  in  thoroughness,  and  don't  think  candor 
the  first  of  virtues  in  a  partisan,  and  so  don't  specialh"  object 
to  these  parts  of  ^-our  speech,  except  that  I  fancy  and  believe 
they  have  injured  its  eflfccts.  There  is  precious  little  logic 
in  individual  men,  but  oceans  of  it  in  the  aggregate  ;  and 
they  are  quick  to  see  any  thing  which  looks  like  unfairness 
towards  a  man  or  a  party  the}'  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
thinking  well  of.     Enough  of  this. 

How  is  the  2'>uhUc  virtue  to  be  brought  to  bear  for  a  reform 
in  national  politics  ?  I  cannot  think  it  is  hy  supporting  Gree- 
\qj.  I  have  just  been  reading  in  "The  Chicago  Tribune  " 
a  sketch,  by  Horace  White,  of  Carl  Schurz's  speech  at  the 
Fifth-avenue  Hotel  conference.  Of  course,  no  man  presents 
the  reasons  for  supporting  Greelc}'  an}'  better ;  at  least,  the 
reasons  which  would  be  apt  to  affect  a  reluctant  mind  like 
mine  :  for  I  know  how  contemptuous  an  opinion  Schurz  must 
have  of  Greeley,  and  how  strong  must  be  his  distrust  of  the 
result  of  the  experiment.  To  divide  his  reasons  into  three 
branches,  they  are.  First,  The  relief  of  the  "  governing 
class  "  of  the  South  from  the  oppressions  of  the  administra- 


356  ''WARRINGTON:" 

tion.  That  oppression  is  the  work  of  the  Republican  party, 
and  not  of  Grant.  It  is  the  work  of  Congress,  jour  work  as 
a  .senator,  tlie  work  of  the  Republican  members,  my  work, 
the  work  of  the  Republican  voters  ;  and  although  I,  agreeing 
rather  with  Schurz  than  with  3-ou,,have  been  against  the  two 
last  Ku-Klux  bills  (and  so  quarrel  with  the  part}'  rather  than 
with  the  President),  3'et,  on  the  tvhole,  I  cannot  saj-  that 
the  rebels  have  any  grounds  of  complaint.  No :  our  policy 
may  have  been  unequal  and  imperfect,  halting,  inconsistent, 
but  not  oppressive  to  these  great  criminals,  not  unduly  pro- 
tective to  their  old  victims.  If  other  things  were  right,  we 
should  not  find  fault  with  this. 

Second,  We  must  seek,  saj-s  Schurz,  practical  results  ;  and 
it  is  now  too  late  to  defeat  Grant,  except  with  Greeley.  I 
agree  to  this  last.  I  fully  assent  to  the  proposition,  that 
all  roads  from  Greeley  lead  to  Grant :  but  so  do  all  roads 
from  Grant  lead  to  Greeley ;  and  the  one  proposition  is  as 
inconsequential  as  the  other.  We  are  familiar  with  that 
argument,  and  despised  it  long  ago.  I  know  we  must  seek 
practical  results.  The  critical  habit  has  grown  upon  me, 
and  possibly  I  care  less  for  "practical"  politics  (so  called) 
than  five  j-ear^  ago :  but  I  would  do  almost  any  thing 
to  bring  about  practical  reform ;  certainly  would  risk  much 
in  men  and  in  part}'  connections.  But  I  see  in  Greeley 
a  man,  who,  in  a  different  direction  from  Grant,  is  just  as 
unfit  as  he.  Look  at  him  clearl}'.  Read  his  paper  every  day 
now,  and  think  what  he  has  been  for  thirty  years,  and  you 
cannot  imagine  a  more  unfit  person.  His  quarrel  with  Grant 
is  not  one  of  principle  :  there  is  no  pretence  that  it  is.  It  is 
solely  a  personal  and  custom-house  quarrel :  it  is  the  quar- 
rel an  insatiable  oflice-seeker  makes  with  one  who  has  disap- 
pointed him  and  his  class.  For  this  (look  at  "  The  Tribune 
Daily  ")  — for  this  he  has  turned  his  back  on  every  one  of 
his  old  professions,  —  ever}'  one  ;  so  that,  as  far  as  I  see, 
there  is  no  substantial  difference  between  his  paper  and  any 
one  of  the  old-line  Democratic  organs.  What  is  to  be  pre- 
dicted of  such  a  man  ?     Schurz  has  tried  to  persuade  himself 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  357 

that  he  will  make  a  good  cabinet.  It  is  impossible.  He 
will  be  the  prey  of  innumerable  factions.  Sclnirz,  when  he 
reflects,  must  know  it.  It  is  running  for  luck,  with  the  im- 
minent danger  that  we  shall  be  worse  off  than  ever ;  for 
Greelc\',  in  a  word,  lacks  character.  He  has  got  nothing 
to  build  upon, — absolutely  nothing.  A  coward  in  danger, 
a  sentimentalist,  he  loses  his  head  whenever  an  exigenc}' 
arises.  He  was  frightened  after  Bull  Run  ;  frightened  at 
every  crisis  of  the  war  ;  never —  I  saj'  it  aiming  at  accuracy 
—  never  leading  or  coming  up  abreast  with  radical  opinion; 
turning  about  with  every  breeze,  and  not  even  waiting  for  a 
wind  or  gust.  Oh  !  when  I  think  of  liis  record,  I  am  ashamed 
that  anybody  should  dream  of  giving  him  a  vote.  Public 
virtue  can  stand  him  as  it  can  stand  four  years  more  of 
Grant ;  but  how  shall  this  virtue  best  be  utilized?  By  inde- 
pendence of  thought  and  action,  it  so  seems  to  me.  Per- 
sonal government  must  be  rebuked  and  overthrown  by  a 
protest  against  hotli  these  personal  parties.  "A  plague  o' 
both  your  houses!"  Presidential  fitness  must  be  restored 
b}'  a  protest  against  both  the  unfit  candidates. 

Why,  see  what  Schurz  has  come  to  !  What  was  the  key- 
note of  his  great  speech  at  Cincinnati?  Governmental 
reform  ;  not  "  Any  thing  to  beat  Grant."  Now  it  is,  "  Any 
thing  to  beat  Grant,"  because,  without  beating  Grant, 
we  cannot  have  governmental  reform.  A  ver}'  different 
proposition.  True,  we  cannot  have  reform  without  beating 
Grant ;  nor  can  we  without  beating  Greeley.  One  ques- 
tion is,  AVhich  is  the  nearest  road?  and  another  individ- 
ual question  is,  What  is  individual  duty?  To  defeat  Grant 
is  a  gain  :  to  defeat  Greeley  is  a  gain.  To  defeat  Grant  is 
to  rebuke  present  and  tried  unfitness  and  corruption :  to 
defeat  Greeley  is  to  prevent  untried,  but  equally  certain^ 
unfitness  and  corruption.  Both  events  release  the  country 
from  the  dominion  of  the  present  Ilcpublican  regime  sooner 
or  later.  The  defeat  of  Greeley  quite  as  surely  releases  it  as 
the  defeat  of  Grant.  Tlic  defeat  of  Greeley  releases  the  real 
reformers  from  the  responsibility  of  shouldering  a  partj-  and 


358  "WAREIHrGTOIf:" 

an  adrainistration,  which  under  such  a  leader,  and  ■with  such 
auspices,  cannot  last  a  month;  at  any  rate,  a  year.  I  am  per- 
suaded that  Greeley  and  Brown  with  their  tails  —  Fenton, 
Blair,  and  so  on  —  cannot  gain  the  confidence  of  the  countr}-. 
The  Republican  masses,  wliich,  after  all,  are  the  best  part  of 
the  country,  would  return  upon  it,  scatter  it ;  and  all  through 
the  next  term  we  should  be  howling  to  each  other,  "Any 
thing  to  beat  Greelej' ;  "  and  so  ad  infinitum. 

I  have  treated  Schurz's  second  and  third  reasons  under  one 
head,  and  have  written  four  sheets,  instead  of  one  or  two.  I 
can  onl}'  hope  that  I  haA^e  contributed  towards  the  aggregate 
of  opinion  among  3'our  friends,  which  I  know  yow  are  not 
unmindful  of.  I  shall  leave  here  for  home  next  week,  and 
perhaps  you  will  be  in  Boston  as  soon  as  I  am.  I  see  "  The 
Advertiser,"  "Journal,"  and  "Springfield  Republican," 
and  know  what  is  going  on  in  Massachusetts.  Wc  are  to 
have  very  interesting  times  there,  in  various  waj's,  for  several 
3'ears  to  come.  This  does  not  diminish  m}^  anxiety  that  we 
should  all  be  able  to  justify  ourselves  as  "practical"  politi- 
cians, as  well  as  reformers,  for  the  course  we  may  take. 

Wh}'  will  3-ou  not  take  pains  to  save  ray  letters,  if  it  is 
not  too  late  as  to  the  others,  so  I  may  at  some  time  reclaim 
them.  I  am  sure  I  shall  mj'self  read  them  with  pleasure,  if 
you  do  not.     There's  for  j'ou  ! 

Yours  faithfull}-, 

SEXATOK  SUMXEB.  ^-     S-    ROBINSON. 

P.S.  —  Looking  this  over,  I  find  I  have  omitted  oug  point 
I  intended  to  write  on  ;  to  wit,  the  way  the  Cincinnati  Con- 
vention was  raided  on  and  captured  by  the  worst  men  in  it,  — 
an  omen  of  almost  certain  disaster  and  failure  to  the  admin- 
istration, should  one  be  elected  under  such  auspices.  The 
confessions  of  Carl  Schurz,  Samuel  Bowles,  and  others, 
after  May  1,  go  further  with  me  than  their  present  wry- 
faced  attempts  at  optimism.  W.  S.  R.^ 

1  This  letter  was  shown  to  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  who  made  the  follow- 
hig  comment  upon  it:  "Good  medicine,  but  not  pleasant  to  take."  — 
S.  G.  H. 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  359 

[Jan.  3,  1873.] 

"WARRINGTON"  ON  HIS  FATE.  — THE  CAUSES  WHICH  LEU  TO 
HIS  DEFEAT  AS  CLERK  OF  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  HOUSE  OF 
REPRESENTATIVES . 

The  newspaper  which  I  described  as  the  representative 
of  "counting-room  journalism"  sa3's  that  the  clerk  of  the 
ITonse  of  Representatives  was,  on  Wednesday,  "summarily 
and  disgracefully  ejected."  This  is  an  admission  which 
"  The  Traveller  "  did  not  intend  to  make,  and  which  is  due 
to  its  inability  to  command  the  services,  at  a  moment's  warn- 
ing, of  a  man  who  could  express  himself  according  to  his 
intentions.  If  I  might  venture  to  interpret  the  broken  Eng- 
lish of  the  erudite  and  pious  Crooke,  who  edits  that  paper,  I 
should  guess  that  he  meant  to  intimate  that  the  ejection  was 
disgraceful  to  the  person  ejected,  and  not  to  the  ejecting  par- 
ties. Assuming,  then,  that  there  was  "  disgrace  "  somewhere, 
suppose  we  seek  to  find  out  where  it  is.  It  surelj"  does  not 
prima  facie  belong  either  to  the  one  who  seeks  an  office,  or 
who  desires  to  retain  one. 

Col.  Taylor  had  surely  a  right  to  ask  for  the  clerkship  ; 
and  it  is  nonsense  to  say  that  anybody  under  the  canopy  ever 
dreamed  of  censuring  him  for  so  doing,  or  of  abusing  him  on 
that  or  any  other  account.  Nor,  as  the  world  goes,  is  there 
any  reason  for  scolding  as  to  the  moans  employed.  I  do  not 
at  any  rate  mean  to  complain,  but  only  to  describe.  And 
let  me  say  in  the  outset,  that,  if  what  I  write  shall  be  classed 
under  the  general  title  of  "  sore-headism,"  I  shall  not  com- 
plain or  dispute.  Your  defeated  office-holder  or  office-seeker 
is,  of  course,  a  "sore-head  ;  "  and  you  must  make  allo\\:Ances 
for  that  in  considering  his  statements  and  comments.  Bear 
in  mind,  then,  this  general  truth  in  estimating  whether  I 
describe  correctly  or  incorrectlj'  the  parties  who  organized 
this  movement,  or  were  drawn  into  it.  In  itself,  it  is  of  but 
slight  consequence ;  but  within  a  few  days  it  was  made  to 
bear  some  relation  to  the  pending  question  of  the  senator- 
ship.     So  far  as  it  bears  on  this  matter,  it  probabl}'  enures, 


360  "WARRINGTON:" 

for  the  time  being,  to  the  benefit  of  tlie  Boutwell-Butler  com- 
bination, or  at  least  to  Gov,  Boutwell.  Its  influence  on 
Butler's  fortunes,  should  the  part}'  of  the  first  part  be  elected 
to  the  Senate,  is,  however,  a  matter  of  guess-work. 

The  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  who  signed 
the  invitation  to  Gov.  Boutwell  to  become  a  candidate  for 
the  Senate  were  not  all  friends  of  Mr.  Ta3'lor,  nor  are  they 
all  friends  of  Butler ;  but  the  connection  is  still  marked 
enough  to  be  noticed.  Messrs.  Hojt,  Blake,  TVinslow,  and 
Palmer,  are,  at  an}'  rate,  active  Butler  men  ;  perhaps,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  active  Butler  men  in  the  House ;  though 
Blake  could  not,  I  suppose,  help  or  hinder  anybody  a  great 
deal.  Middlesex  County  still  maintains  its  swaj'  in  the 
political  machiner}'  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  is  numericallj^ 
the  sti'ongest  county  ;  and  Suffolk,  Essex,  and  Worcester  are 
babes  in  intrigue  in  comparison  with  it.  Wilson,  Boutwell, 
Banks,  Claflin,  Butler,  Judge  Hoar,  George  F.  Hoar, 
Williams,  Gooch,  the  Lowell  squads,  the  Charlestown  squads, 
—  all  attest  the  supremacy  of  Middlesex  in  our  politics. 
Wilson,  it  is  now  said,  is  committed  to  Boutwell' s  support. 
The}'  were  coalitionists  twenty  j-ears  ago.  You  can  learn 
something  b}'  studying  the  roll  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion of  1853.  Besides  the  names  of  all  those  mentioned 
there,  except  Judge  Hoar  and  his  brother,  Mr.  Claflin  and 
Mr.  Williams,  you  will  find  Dana,  Burlingamc,  Thomas 
Talbot,  Charles  R.  Train,  Josiah  G.  Abbott,  J.  B.  Winn, 
F.  O.  Prince,  C.  C.  Hazewell,  John  Sargent,  Isaac  Liver- 
more,  Richard  Frothingham,  and  (to  drop  into  the  obsolete) 
Joel  Parker.  But  Boutwell,  Wilson,  Butler,  and  Banks 
wera,  on  the  whole,  the  most  influential  men  in  that  body ; 
and  to  them,  more  than  to  an}-  other  four  men,  was  due  its 
splendid  and  ignominious  failure.  I  ought  to  except  Banks, 
who,  as  presiding  officer,  was  not  responsible  for  its  policy. 

It  is  but  natural  to  find  Wilson,  Butler,  and  Boutwell  on 
one  side  now,  and  Dawes  on  the  other  side ;  for  he  was  on 
the  other  side  then ;  though,  of  course,  this  is  no  sure  sign. 
I  suppose  that  G.  F.  Hoar,  and  perhaps  the  judge,  would,  on 


PEy-POliTRAITS.  361 

local  and  other  grounds,  prefer  Dawes  to  Boutwell :  so 
Avould  Goocb,  on  the  ground  of  old  "Washington  friendship  ; 
but  Gooch  is  too  timid  to  be  reckoned  as  of  much  service  to 
one  side  or  the  other  in  such  a  contest  as  this.  Wilson,  in 
addition  to  the  claim  of  old  political  association  in  favor  of 
Boutwell,  is  afraid  of  Butler,  He  is  afraid  of  him  for  the 
same  reason  a  hen  is  afraid  of  the  hawk.  He  has  no  dread, 
well  defined,  of  harm  to  himself,  or  even  of  exposure  ;  but 
he  believes  himself  to  bo  a  sort  of  guardian  of  the  Republi- 
can part}-,  and,  through  that,  of  the  interests  of  the  countr}- ; 
and  he  would  put  up  with  any  insolence  or  injur}'  Butler 
might  inflict  or  threaten,  rather  than  protest  against  it,  at 
the  risk  of  endangering  the  election  of  a  town  constable 
regularl}'  nominated  b}-  the  Republican  caucus  of  the  pre- 
cinct of  Squashville.  Boutwell  and  Butler  are  reall}'  the 
onl}-  elements  of  the  combination  on  one  side.  I  stated  their 
case,  I  believe,  correctly  last' week;  and  though  the  late 
fight  for  the  clerkship  had  but  a  slight  bearing  on  it,  still  it 
had  a  little.  Tlie  late  clerk  has  had  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  cares  a  farthing  whether 
he  is  in  or  out.  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  ;  but,  now 
that  he  has  formed  a  coalition  with  Butler,  he  naturally 
sympathizes  witli  all  his  hates. 

The  common  stabber  who  represents  the  Essex  District 
made  up  his  mind  long  ago  to  be  revenged  upon  me  for  the 
prominent  part  I  took  in  keeping  the  State  out  of  his  hands 
in  1870.  Ah !  let  me  indulge  in  pleasing  recollections,  as 
Mr.  Webster  once  said  on  a  great  occasion.  You  remem- 
ber, old  fellow,  how  we  slaughtered  and  cut  up  this  beast  in 
August  and  September,  1871.  It  was  deftly  done,  was  it 
not?  But  "  under  pain,  pleasure,  under  pleasure,  pain  lies." 
For  the  time  being,  he  has  got  one  of  his  revenges,  or  thinks 
he  has,  which  is  all  the  same  to  him  ;  being  one  of  those  phi- 
losophers who  confound  phenomena  with  realities,  and  deem 
the  verdict  of  a  petty  jiny  as  final  and  important  as  a  c3-cle 
of  civilization,  and  are  not  able  to  distinguish  the  one  from 
the  other.     The  mischievous  monkey-tricks  which  would  form 


362  "WARRINGTON:" 

the  serious  work  of  a  council  of  diambermaids  are  just  as 
serious  to  Butler  as  any  thing  else. 

He  promised  to  support  Mr.  Dean  for  clerk,  until  he  found 
that  Mr.  Ta3-lor  was  the  man,  and  then  left  Mr.  Dean  in  the 
lurch,  of  course.  "What  did  he  care  for  Dean,  or,  for  that 
matter,  for  Taylor,  either?  So  hy  private  correspondence, 
and  by  setting  his  flunkies  secretly  at  work  throughout  the 
State,  he  wrought  as  efficiently  as  he  could.  It  is  needless 
to  inquire  how  much  he  did  toward  the  grand  result.  Nobody 
knows,  nobody  cares,  so  far  as  I  am  aware.  Other  things 
worked  in  harmony  with  him :  for  instance,  there  was  the 
"sojer"  element.  Butler  —  though  no  soldier  himself,  but 
onl3'  a  court-martial  and  proclamation  general,  having  a  hand 
in  the  death  of  no  rebel  except  Mumford  of  New  Orleans 
(who  was  paired  off  to  the  other  world  with  Theodore  Win- 
throp, — one  the  victim  of  Butler's  cowardice,  and  the  other 
of  his  blundering) ,  and  coming  within  smell  of  gunpowder 
never,  except  when  it  was  embarked  upon  the  powder-boat  — 
S3'mpathizes  intensel}'  w'ith  the  man  who  did  fight,  particularly 
if  he  had  luck  enough  to  get  home,  and  keep  settled  long 
enough  to  maintain  a  right  to  vote  and  to  get  chosen  to 
office.  I  suppose  he  would  contribute  liberally  to  the  comfort 
of  the  poor  soldier  ;  but  it  would  be  in  the  form  of  paying  his 
poll-tax,  provided  he  would  vote  early  and  often  for  him  in 
the  primar}'  caucus. 

Then,  again,  there  was  Masoniy.  It  is  fortunate  that  my 
opinion  of  this  institution  is  no  after-thought,  or  after-expres- 
sion of  a  thought.  Neither  this  organization  nor  that  of  the 
Grand  Army  is  political  in  an}-  general  waj',  or  on  a  large 
scale.  It  is  onl}'  or  mainlj'  in  cases  where  personal  prefer- 
ence is  involved  that  the  esprit  comes  in,  as  it  doubtless 
comes  in,  to  a  degree,  in  the  professions  and  trade.  There 
is  no  help  for  this.  I  ascertained  a  year  ago  that  the  Masons 
were  expected  to  aid  in  what  Crooke  blunderingly  calls  this 
"disgraceful"  job.  One  gentleman  blandh-  informed  me 
that  he  had  been  urged  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  office 
of  clerk.     I  had  heard  of  him  as  a  "  grand  lecturer  ; ' '  possi- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  363 

bly  a  great-grand,  a  great-great-grand,  a  psoudo-grcat- 
graud,  or  something  of  that  sort.  The  alphabet,  to  one  of 
these  "orders,"  is  simpl}^  an  ancient  invention  for  the  pur- 
pose of  lengthening  out  the  titles  of  nobodies  (or  of  some- 
bodies who  want  to  impose  upon  the  nobodies),  and  for 
whom  the  plain  "  Mister"  is  deemed  insufHcient.  Jeduthan 
Scrubbs,  who  began  life  as  a  cook's  mate  on  board  a  down- 
East  coaster,  appears  some  daj-,  a  few  j-ears  later,  as  "  Sir 
Knight  Jeduthan  Scrubbs  "  of  the  De  Mola^'  or  Ivanhoe  en- 
campment; and  "the  babj^'s  milk  is  watered,"  that  Scrubbs 
ma}^  obtain  a  new  sword  ;  and  Scrubbs's  wife  goes  without 
decent  clothing,  that  her  husband  may  be  able  to  wear  an 
embroidered  shirt-tail  outside  of  his  otherwise  respectable 
habiliments. 

As  I  was  saying,  our  "lecturer"  had  been  urged  to 
become  a  candidate  for  clerk.  The  suggestion  could  never 
have  occurred  to  any  one  except  a  Mason ;  nor  even  then, 
unless  he  was  thinking  as  a  Mason,  and  inside  a  lodge  :  so  I 
could  not  help  concluding  that  Masonry  was  in  the  contest. 
I  do  not  suppose  it  had  large  influence  upon  the  result. 
There  !  —  if  I  get  you  into  difficulty  by  this,  I  am  only  pay- 
ing 3-ou  off;  for,  as  if  I  had  not  sins  enough  of  my  own  to 
answer  for  in  your  paper,  I  have  also  to  bear  some  of  the 
offences  of  j'our  other  correspondents.  One  of  them  had 
spoken  of  a  member  of  the  last  House  as  a  "bore,"  or 
something  of  that  sort  (the  member  I  refer  to  was  not  the 
bore,  whose  name  and  residence  I  need  not  here  or  an^'where 
specify).  Now,  I  had  carefully-  refrained  from  sa3-ing  any 
thing  of  this  sort.  "  The  "  bore  par  excellence  I  had  let 
alone ;  and  not  only  that,  but  all  the  smaller  bores.  0  my 
friend  !  if  3'ou  did  but  know  how  man}-  times  I  have  held  in 
in  this  way,  j'ou  would  wonder,  not  at  m}'  frankness,  but  at 
my  caution  and  reticence.  Yet  it  was  bruited  all  abroad 
that  I  had  thus  abused  this  innocent  and  inoffensive  person, 
who,  though  a  bore,  to  be  sure,  was  not,  in  any  sense,  a  bad 
man,  or,  on  the  whole,  a  bad  legislator. 

Then  there  had  been  for  months  personal  solicitation  and 


364 


"WARRINGTON:" 


button-holing,  and  finally,  on  the  last  clay,  a  raid  of  a  i:)arcol 
of  seal}'  politicians  and  Jeremy  Diddlers  from  the  town  I 
live  in,^  who  invaded  the  State  House  in  a  way  which  would 
have  justified  Detective  Heath  in  putting  himself  into  dis- 
guise for  the  time,  and  compelled  the  sergeant-at-arms  to 
relieve  Sergeant  Plunkett  from  duty  at  the  door  of  the  coat- 
room  in  favor  of  some  man  with  at  least  one  arm  at  his  dis- 
posal. I  had  committed  various  offences  against  these  men, 
of  which  knoicing  them  was  a  sufficient  one.  Whether  I 
bolted  their  nominations  when  the}'  carried  on  too  outra- 
geousl}'  (which  was  a  frequent  occurrence) ,  or  supported  their 
fraudulent  or  imbecile  tickets,  as  I  too  frequently  did,  they 
were  equall}'  dissatisfied.  Here  I  come  to  that  superior 
organization  known  as  the  Middlesex  Club,  of  which  the 
Maiden  and  Somerville  clique  was,  in  this  case,  the  "tail 
and  striking  muscle,"  as  old  Josiah'Quincy  said  of  Preston 
Brooks.  This  is  an  organization  which  controls  the  offices 
of  that  great  count}',  —  sheriff,  deputies,  count}^  commission- 
ers, district-attornc}',  postmasters,  custom-house  officers,  and, 
what  is  more  important,  their  heirs,  executors,  and  assigns. 
The  members  of  Congress  elect  who  live  in  that  county  con- 
ciliate this  power,  and  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  occa- 
sionally dines  with  them  at  Parker's.  This  is  not  the  Banks 
Club,  which  is  of  older  date,  and  had  its  origin  as  f;ir  back 
as  the  schism  between  the  Know-Xothing  and  Anti-Know- 
Nothing  Republicans,  —  saj'  1856  or  1857.  It  is  more  numer- 
ous and  influential  than  the  Bank?  Club,  which,  indeed,  has 
for  several  j-ears  past  been  social  rather  than  political,  hav- 
ing a  sprinkling  of  Democrats  among  its  members. 

I  might  here  close  the  list  of  this  complication  of  dis- 
orders, which  should,  indeed,  be  summed  up  much  more 
briefly  ;  for,  except  in  its  political  relations, — to  the  senator- 
ship,  for  instance,  —  it  is  of  but  slight  general  interest.  Yet 
I  see  that  "The  Daily  Times  "  thinks  that  my  free  speech 
against  Gen.  Grant,  and  the  nearness  Avhich  it  is  assumed  that 


I 


4 


1  Maiden,  Mass. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  365 

I  got  to  the  liberal  movement,  had  something  to  do  with 
the  election  of  Col.  Taylor.  Very  little.  I  only  said  in  print 
what  half  our  members  of  Congress  elect  said  at  the  dinner- 
table  ;  saying  it  much  better,  however,  I  hope,  than  they 
did.  No.  I  don't  believe  an}'  plain  talk  about  Gen.  Grant 
had  much  to  do  with  the  matter.  That  a  Republican  organi- 
zation which  could  ignorantly  or  willingl}^  lend  itself  to  carry 
out  the  revenges  of  Butler,  or  unanimoasl}'  elevate  Dr.  Lor- 
ing  to  the  presidenc}'  of  the  Senate,  or  boast  of  the  Johnson- 
ized,  Hanscomized  Buffinton  as  one  of  its  members  of 
Congress  elect,  should  find  fault  with  me  for  speaking  freely 
of  Gen.  Grant,  is  simply  incredible.  It  would  indeed  be  a 
spectacle  to  see  Butler  objecting  to  anybody  for  depreciating 
the  President. 

But  I  have  already  discussed  this  matter  much  more  than 
I  have  any  right  to :  and,  if  I  have  not  assigned  reasons 
enough  for  my  failure  to  be  rechosen,  let  me  fall  bade  on 
the  old  'one  ;  to  wit,  the  lack  of  a  sufficient  number  of  votes. 
I  shall  endeavor  to  make  it  apparent  to  the  chief  conspira- 
tor, before  he  is  gathered  to  Iiis  fathers,  that  he  lias  not 
made  a  great  deal  by  the  operation,  and  that  the  old  proverb 
I  have  more  than  once  quoted  in  connection  with  him  will 
still  turn  out  to  be  true,  —  "  The  Devil  is  always  an  ass." 

[ararch  7.] 
ON   RESCINDING  THE   RESOLUTION   CENSURING   MR.    SUMNER. 

The  hearings  on  the  question  of  rescinding  the  Hoyt-But- 
ler  Grand  Army  General  malice-resolutions  in  relation  to 
Mr.  Sumner  were  very  interesting,  both  of  them.  The 
speeches  in  favor  of  rescinding  have  been  pretty  full}-  re- 
ported;  Mr.  James  Freeman  Clarke's  in  full.  It  was  the 
most  effective  speech  of  the  first  da}- ;  and  the  closing  quota- 
tion from  Burke,  which  I  remember  was  once  quoted  b}-  Mr. 
Palfrc}-  in  an  address  to  liis  constituents  in  the  old  days 
when  he  was  condemned  for  expressing  his  antislavery 
opinions  in  defiance  of  the  central  clique,  or,  as  Lowell  called 
them,  — 


366  "WARRINGTON:" 

"  The  waiters  on  Providunce  here  in  the  city, 
Who  comijose  wat  they  call  a  State  central  committy,"  — 

this  quotation  was  specially  effective.  Ex-Gov.  Wasliburn 
did  liimself  great  credit  by  his  willingness  to  come  out, 
and  his  speech  was  an  excellent  one.  Rev.  Dr.  James  "VY. 
Thompson  of  Jamaica  Plain,  once  of  Salem,  and  Stephen  C. 
Phillips's  old  pastor,  came  in  to  bear  his  loyal  testimony 
against  opposition  to  Sumner  on  such  trivial  and  contempti- 
ble grounds  as  those  which  governed  the  movers  in  the 
matter  last  December ;  and  Gov.  Claflin,  in  a  dignified  and 
manl}^  waj',  took  charge  of  the  whole  proceeding. 

If  these  men  had  had  the  opportunity  to  appear  at  the 
extra  session,  and  had  appreciated  the  danger  that  the  legis- 
lature would  pass  the  resolutions,  the}'  might  have  acted  then, 
and  saved  the  State  the  disgrace  of  adopting  them ;  but, 
bus}'  as  the  demagogue  and  the  mischief-maker  alwaj-s  are, 
the}'  could  not  have  reasonably  supposed  that  he  would  have 
made  his  appearance  at  the  fire-session  ^  for  the  purpose  of 
satisfying  his  base  propensities.  "The  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts ' '  indeed  !  This  Revere  and  Athol  rubbish  pretend- 
ing to  be  the  people  of  Massachusetts!  "We,  the  people 
of  England  ! ' '  resolved  the  tailors  of  Tooley  Street ;  but  the 
illustration  is  somewhat  must}'. 

On  the  second  day,  Mr.  Garrison  appeared,  and  —  greatly 
to  the  astonishment  of  those  who  had  not  witnessed  the  energy 
with  which  he  had  taken  notes  on  Wednesday,  and  heard  his 
expressions  of  dissent  in  conversation  —  made  a  speech  in 
opposition  to  rescinding  the  resolutions.  I  did  not  hear  any 
of  it ;  but  you  will,  no  doubt,  get  a  suflacient  report  of  it. 
Mr.  Garrison's  hostility  to  Mr.  Sumner  has  been  very  intense 
ever  since  the  senator  ventured  to  think  that  Gen.  Grant  was 
unfit  for  the  presidency  ;  and  more  than  once  —  once  at  least 
—  it  has  taken  the  shape  of  a  quasi-denial  of  Mr.  Sumner's 
claim  to  be  considered  by  his  friends  as  a  grand  historic 
figure  in  the  antislavery  enterprise.     It  has  always  seemed 

1  Extra  session  of  the  legislature  on  account  of  the  great  fire. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  367 

to  me  stupid  business,  this  apportioning  out  of  the  relative 
measure  of  fame  to  the  various  eminent  abolitionists  now 
living.  I  suppose  the  country  and  the  cause  would  have  got 
along  without  any  of  them.  If  A  had  not  sprung  up,  B 
w^ould  have  made  his  appearance  ;  and  if  not  B,  then  C. 
Read  Gen.  "Wilson's  book,  and  you  will  see  that  there  were 
antislavery  men  before  Garrison,  or  even  Lundy,  —  as  far 
ahead  of  these  men,  in  point  of  time,  as  Garrison  was  before 
Phillips  or  Sumner ;  and  furthermore,  though  it  may  be  a 
sort  of  treason  to  Massachusetts  to  say  so,  it  will  appear 
that  New  York  had  a  great  man  intellectually  and  morally 
on  the  antislaver}-  side  at  a  ver}^  earl}'  day,  as  we  had.  It 
seems  to  me  that  the  motive,  conscious  or  unconscious,  of 
Mr.  Garrison's  hostility  to  Mr.  Sumner,  grows  out  of  this 
feeling  of  rivalr}^  as  to  what  shall  be  the  verdict  of  history, 
and  what  is  the  estimation  of  contemporaries.  Then  Mr. 
Garrison,  as  it  seems  to  me  must  be  admitted,  is  so  terribl}' 
deficient  in  that  imaginative  element  which  sees  the  relations 
of  things  to  each  other,  and  is  able  to  "make  allowances" 
for  other  men's  opinions  and  actions  and  for  the  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  that  he  is  apt  to  be,  if  not  unjust,  at 
least  very  uninterestingly  just.  He  is  like  a  teamster,  who, 
because  his  wlieels  are  made  to  fit  the  axletree,  and  purposely 
intended  to  revolve,  should  therefore  insist  on  refusing  to 
grease  them,  but  whip  up  his  oxen,  "  shout  the  frequent 
damn"  to  them  if  nccessar}',  and  make  them  drag  the  Avagon 
over  the  mudd}'  or  frozen  road,  no  matter  whether  the}'  went 
round,  or  were  straightforward  hauled  at  a  quadruple  expense 
of  force.  "  They  were  made  to  revolve,  and  revolve  they 
shall !  Grease  !  — good  heavens  !  talk  not  to  me  of  grease  ! 
Suppose  grease  had  never  been  invented  !  "  I  reverence  this 
sort  of  blind  logic,  in  a  certain  way  ;  but  it  furnishes  oppor- 
tunity for  satire.  In  the  present  case,  it  docs  not  seem  to  me 
that  Mr.  Garrison  had  an  opportunity  which  called  at  all  for 
the  interposition  of  that  logic  and  that  conscientiousness 
which  he  possesses  in  so  strong  a  degree.  If  he  is  correctly 
reported,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  at  all  strong  in  his 


368  "WARRINGTON:" 

convictions  of  the  necessity  or  justice  of  a  legislative  con- 
demnation of  Mr.  Sumner,  and  came  up  rather  to  protest 
against  indiscriminate  eulogy  upon  the  senator  than  for  any 
other  purpose. 

Well,  what  if  Mr.  Clarke  and  Dr.  Thompson  did  overdo 
that  matter  a  little?  as  I  don't  think  they  did.  Personal 
lo3-alty  is  not  so  plentiful  that  we  can  afford  to  sneer  at  it.  I 
heard  a  part  of  Mr.  Towne's  speech,  which,  I  suppose,  was 
merely  stimulated  by  the  fact  that  he  felt  that  he  was  under 
censure  as  one  who  had  taken  part  in  the  sorry  business  of  last 
year.  Hoj't  also  spoke :  him  I  did  not  hear ;  but  I  under- 
stand he  made  the  astute  suggestion,  that  the  clerk  of  the 
House  of  1872  entered  the  resolutions  upon  the  Journal  sur- 
reptitiously, for  the  purpose  of  having  them  rescinded.  If 
he  had  not  entered  them  at  all,  you  can  imagine  what  ground 
would  have  been  taken,  and  the  nois}'  bellowings  with  which 
the  Athol  representative  would  have  denounced  him  for  sup- 
pressing them.  I  understand  thej^  do  not  appear  upon  the 
Journal  of  the  Senate,  Let  the  warrior,  on  this  last  ground 
of  grievance,  turn  his  guns  upon  the  clerk  of  that  bodj'. 
For  my  own  part,  I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  been 
spared  the  necessity  of  entering  upon  the  Journal  the  record 
of  the  passage  of  these  blundering  exhibitions  of  malice,  as 
well  as  the  language  itself;  and  it  is  one  of  the  compensa- 
tions of  loss  of  office,  that  one  is  not  obliged  at  any  time,  or 
under  an}'  circumstances,  to  speak  or  write  with  the  appear- 
ance of  respect  the  names  of  men  who  deserve  no  respect. 
This  is  one  of  the  compensations  of  life  for  which  I  am  pro- 
foundly' grateful. 

WARRINGTON   ABROAD.^ 

London,  March  5,  1874. 
Tliis  city  is  so  big,  that  the  newspapers  are  liappil}- exempt 
from  the  temptation  and  necessity  of  printing  the  innumera- 
ble small  items  of  news  which  form  so  large  a  part  of  the 

1  In  Boston  JournaL 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  369 

contents  of  an  American  newspaper ;  and,  accordingl}',  the 
reader  of  "  The  Times,"  "News,"  "Telegraph,"  "Stand- 
ard," and  so  on,  finds  himself  limited  to  two  or  three  princi- 
pal topics,  — just  now,  for  example,  to  the  Ashantee  war,  the 
Bengal  famine,  the  minor  appointments  under  the  new  min- 
istr}-,  the  Tichborne  trial,  and  law  reform,  the  debate  on 
which  subject  has  been  revived  b}'  some  extraordinar}'  exhi- 
bition of  ' '  uppishness  ' '  on  the  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Inns  of  Court. 

The  passengers  by  "  The  Parthia,"  which  sailed  from  Bos- 
ton on  the  31st  of  January,  heard  of  the  result  of  the  elec- 
tions from  a  couple  of  j^oung  men,  who,  in  some  unaccountable 
way,  got  on  board  before  the  ship  arrived  at  Liverpool.  One 
of  them  was  cashier  to  some  broker,  I  believe,  and  undertook 
to  enjo}'  a  vacation  of  twenty-four  or  fort3'-eight  hours  at 
sea  ;  but  the  storm,  which  was  so  violent  that  "  The  Parthia  " 
was  unable  to  put  in  at  Queenstown,  led  him  and  his  friend 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  safety-  and  shelter  of  the  steamer,  — 
perhaps  when  the  pilot  came  on  board.  I  found  him  a  "  con- 
servative," and  able  to  give  pretty  good  reasons  for  the 
defeat  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  disposed  to  rejoice  over  it,  but 
not  inordinately.  He  spoke  as  if  the  ministry  had  blun- 
dered, and  tired  out  the  people,  and  not  as  if  he  thought  lib- 
eralism a  ver}^  bad  thing.  I  should  not  have  supposed  him 
to  have  any  prejudice  against  working-men,  or  any  feeling 
that  their  rule  or  representation  would  prove  injurious  ;  5"et 
he  spoke  of  the  election  of  two  M.  P.'s  b}'  this  class  as  if  he 
desired  to  impress  me  with  a  sense  that  there  was  more  or 
less  danger  from  even  so  slight  an  innovation  on  the  British 
Constitution  as  this.  Ilis  theor}-  as  to  the  cause  of  the  lib- 
eral disaster  was  as  good  as  au}^  I  have  heard.  Nobod}',  I 
think,  reall}'  believes  that  England  is  an}'  less  liberal  than 
it  was  five  years  ago,  or  that  the  Tories  have  an}'  better 
chance  of  establishing  a  permanent  re-action  than  the}'  had 
then.  Still  the  liberal  leaders  are  a  good  deal  discouraged 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  majorit}-  against  them.  Occasion- 
ally some  old  connoisseur  of  hunlcerism  (like  A.  H.  Stevens 


370  "WABRINGTON:" 

or  Jerry  Black)  writes  to  the  leading  newspapers,  and  talks 
about  the  "  Torj- "  party,  and  Church  and  State,  as  if  he 
supposed  the  good  old  days  before  the  "bearing  rein" 
was  removed  were  to  come  back  again  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
Mx.  Disraeli  encourages  no  such  general  delusion.  Still  the 
distinction  between  Whig  and  Tory,  liberal  and  conservative, 
is  marked  enough  to  make  the  result  of  the  election  a  subject 
of  regret  to  the  progressive  classes,  wherever  they  are. 

Our  friends  up  in  Tremont  Place  ^  will  be  glad  to  hear  that 
the  friends  of  woman  suffrage  reckon  up  a  probable  gain  in 
the  new  parliament.  Mr.  Disraeli  is  a  friend  of  their  move- 
ment ;  though  I  guess  it  will  not  be  safe  to  calculate  that  he 
will  make  an  issue  on  it.  Their  victor}-  in  Boston,  however, 
will  console  them  for  all  other  disasters.^ 

No  American  topic  seems  worth  considering  by  the  Eng- 
lish papers,  except  Dr.  Dio  Lewis's  crusade  against  the 
liquor-dealers  in  Ohio  and  elsewhere.  This  must  seem  very 
comical  to  the  English  people,  who,  like  most  grave  people, 
are  a  race  of  humorists  ;  but  the}-  take  it  more  seriously  than 
I  should  suppose  they  would.  It  is  not  likely  that  they 
seriously  fear  an}"  successful  crusade  of  this  sort  within  a 
hundred  years  ;  but  the  possibilit}-  of  the  path  to  the  public- 
house  being  obstructed  hj  groups  of  praying  women  may 
well  appall  them.  A  "permissive"  bill  seems  all  that  the 
temperance  people  here  expect.  This,  if  I  understand  it,  is 
about  the  same  as  "  local  option,"  which  was  abolished  last 
winter  in  Massachusetts  because  it  was  the  most  dangerous 
enemy  of  the  cause.  The  liquor-dealers,  by  the  way,  bore 
their  full  share  in  the  burden  of  the  conservative  movement ; 
the  Church  and  the  gin-shops  and  beer-shops  working  har- 
moniously together. 

If  you  are  at  all  acquainted  with  English  literature,  you 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  interested  in  driving  down  into  the 
queer  lanes  and  allej'-waj's,  the  names  of  which  at  every 
step  almost  remind  j'ou  of  Dickens,  or  Thackeray,  or  Scott, 

1  Woman's  Journal  office  in  Boston. 

2  In  getting  women  on  the  School  Committee. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  371 

or  Johnson,  or  Golclsmitli,  oi'  something  or  other  in  English 
histor}',  the  stage,  or  tradition.  The  shops  are  scarcely  less 
enticing.  Cheapside,  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  and  so  on, 
Regent  Street,  the  Burlington  Arcade,  —  this  is  a  "nation 
of  shopkeepers  "  indeed  ;  and  although  London  is  more  than 
twice  as  large,  in  point  of  population,  as  the  State  of  Massa- 
chusetts, it  seems  a  standing  mj^stery  how  such  a  multitude 
of  tradesmen  can  get  a  living.  The  wealth  stored  in  private 
houses  in  the  aristocratic  parts  of  the  cit}-  must  be  still  more 
incomputable.^ 

Eo>rE  A>rD  Paris,  June  1. 
Ital}^  is  as  quiet  as  if  it  had  never  been  the  arena  of  con- 
tending armies  ;  and  France  is  rich  and  prosperous  ;  though, 
of  course,  the  taxes  must  be  high  in  both  nations.  Coun- 
tries recover  so  rapidly  !  The  battle-fields  are  "  healed  and 
reconciled  b}'  the  sweet  oblivion  of  flowers,"  to  quote  some 
of  Mr.  De  Quincey's  rhetoric.  If  the  peoples  of  Southern 
Europe  are  ground  down  b^'  government  expenses  and  stand- 
ing armies,  they  live  upon  little  or  nothing,  compared  with 
the  people  of  the  United  States.  I  will  not  bother  3-ou  or 
myself  about  the  superstition  and  ignorance  on  the  one  hand, 
or  the  Church  and  art-magnificence  on  the  other,  of  these 
regions.  No  doubt,  things  are  improving.  Rome  was  rather 
an  exceptional  place.  About  five  p.m.,  every  daj',  I  found 
the  wind  intolerable.  We  were  told  to  hurry  away  from 
London,  and  not  to  stop  long  in  Paris,  and  to  reach  Rome  at 
least  b}'  Easter ;  for  it  would  be  hot  afterwards.  This  seemed 
reasonable  ;  for  I  had  attached  a  tropical  significance  to  the 
south  of  Europe.  The  upshot  was,  that  I  left  mild  weather 
in  London  the  first  week  in  March,  a  little  in  doubt  whether 
I  had  not  better  put  on  clothes  of  the  description  sold  in 
Boston  for  dog-days  ;  and  returned  to  Paris  two  weeks  ago 
and  a  little  more,  after  encountering  snow  at  the  outlet  of  the 
Mont  Cenis  Tunnel,  and  wearing  the  same  thick  overcoat  and 
gloves  that  I  went  out  of  London  with.     A  week  ago,  they 

1  How  Butler's  mouth  would  water  at  the  sight!  —W.  S.  R. 


372  "  WARRINGTON: " 

had  heavy  frosts  and  snow  in  jSTaples.  I  am  more  and  more 
impressed  with  the  truth  of  Hawthorne's  remark;  the  sub- 
stance of  which  is,  that  travellers  had  better  go  where  winter 
is  a  seasonable  institution,  and  provided  against  b}'^  the 
customs  of  the  countrj'.  Winter  is  winter  anywhere  ;  and  a 
fire  improvised  in  a  cold  room  after  3'our  return  from  a  long 
walk  or  ride  is  not  a  fire  in  an}'  genuine  sense  of  the  word. 
I  must  sa}',  however,  that  I  found  no  place  in  Ital}'  where 
j-ou  could  not  get  a  fire ;  although,  to  believe  some  people, 
Rome  had  seen  no  fires  since  Nero's  day,  and  friction-matches 
were  things  as  unknown  as  then. 

The  hotels  are  of  various  descriptions,  of  course,  but  gen- 
erally good.  I  have  not  onl}-  seen  good  bread  and  good  but- 
ter, and  good  meat  and  good  soups,  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
but  ver}'  seldom  an}'  bad  articles  of  these  descriptions.  The 
bread  from  London  to  Naples  is  excellent.  The  beds  are  as 
good  ;  bed  and  bread  both  being  hard.  I  have  heard  of  the 
flea ;  but  I  do  not  deem  him  a  frequent  nuisance  :  and  I  have 
not  heard  of  the  bed-bug.  Of  course,  3'ou  must  put  up, 
unless  you  have  a  good  deal  of  money,  with  less  and  poorer 
air  than  in  the  best  parts  of  Boston  and  the  neighborhood. 
And  this  is  a  prett}'  serious  matter.  Dress  also,  even  to  the 
male  species,  has  a  significance  that  it  does  not  have  at  home, 
—  a  more  serious  matter  yet.  The  remonstrance  over  j-our 
old  glove  and  necktie,  even  if  it  be  mute,  is  not  inexpressive ; 
and  there  is  a  temptation  to  bu}'  here  and  there  a  thing  you 
do  not  want,  or  at  least  do  not  need,  because  it  is  onl}-  half 
as  expensive  as  the  same  thing  in  Boston.  Unless  3'ou  con- 
fine the  wristband  of  j'our  shirt  with  a  piece  of  twine,  as 
when  you  went  to  school,  the  chances  are  that  you  came 
from  home  with  some  sort  of  an  ornamental  button  or  fas- 
tener ;  and  so,  when  a  prettier  one,  at  half  the  home-price, 
appears  in  a  Florence  or  Paris  window,  what  can  j'ou  do? 
You  cannot,  I  guess,  get  so  good-looking  a  suit  of  clothes  in 
London  as  in  Boston,  unless  you  emplo}'  a  tailor  of  above  the 
average  ability  ;  and  as  for  the  London  bonnet,  it  is  univer- 
sally allowed  to  be  hideous.     I  do  not  speak  of  female  opin- 


PEN-P  OR  TRAITS.  3  73 

ion  alone  on  this  latter  point.  Tliose  who  think  English 
women  handsome  must  have  seen  them  with  their  bonnets 
off.  The  Paris  vromen,  on  the  other  hand,  dress  well.  The 
head  and  foot  are  equall}'  well  clothed,  except,  of  course,  in 
the  case  of  those  who  wear  shoes  with  heels  set  in  the  middle, 
and  who  come  home  "tired  to  death"  in  consequence.  I 
do  not  know  how  far  the  dress-reform  maj^  have  gone  in  the 
United  States  ;  but,  if  it  was  confined  to  the  waist  and  corset, 
it  was  far  from  reaching  the  whole  difficulty.  The  heel,  as 
in  Achilles'  case,  is  a  vulnerable  point,  at  least  in  Paris. 

The  sensible  Parisian  woman,  like  the  American,  wears  a 
handsome  boot.  She  also  dresses  the  head  with  good  taste, 
if  at  all.  Great  numbers  of  them  go  about  simply  with 
white  and  invariabl}^  clean  caps  on,  and  without  bonnets ; 
and  gre'at  numbers  more,  for  short  distances,  go  bareheaded. 
They  have,  up  to  middle  life  and  beyond,  a  cheerful  look, 
due,  I  suppose,  to  the  variety  and  responsibilit}-  of  occupa- 
tion which  they  have.  I  have  not  observed  an}'  intermit- 
tenc}^  in  this  respect ;  and  conclude  that  Dr.  E.  H.  Clarke's 
book  has  not  reached  here,  or  has  not  been  translated.  I 
hope  not,  at  any  rate.  It  would  be  a  pity  to  see  this  beauti- 
ful and  now  peaceful  city  barricaded  by  women  apprehensive 
of  a  serious  attempt  to  deprive  them  of  their  living  for  any 
considerable  part  of  the  time  ;  or  compelling  them  to  work 
b}'  relays,  as  they  sometimes  have  to  do  in  English  facto- 
ries under  the  short-hour  s^'stem.  Rumors  of  the  book  have 
reached  here  ;  and  such  of  the  women  as  seem  alarmed,  I  have 
assured,  in  broken  French,  that  while  it  is  a  ver}'  good  medi- 
cal book,  no  doubt,  it  is  a  good-for-nothing  educational  book, 
and  is  about  as  much  in  the  way  as  one  hy  yow  or  I,  Mr. 
Editor,  on  Journalism  and  Judaism,  or  one  b}'  Gen.  Butler 
on  the  Moieties  and  the  Moralities,  or  one  b}-  an3-bod3'  else 
on  any  other  two  subjects  not  connected  by  any  study  or 
knowledge  in  the  mind  of  the  author. 

I  can  give  j'ou  little  or  no  information  on  the  politics  of 
France,  Italj',  or  England  ;  and  3'et  I  think,  when  I  return 
to  America,  I  sliail  not  hesitate  to  attempt  (if  required)  to 


374 


'WARRINGTON:" 


write  a  leader  on  either.  I  have  for  manj^  years  regretted 
that  I  had  not  studied  European  politics,  so  that  I  could 
presume  to  give  information  to  the  Boston  or  even  the  New- 
Yorlv  public  on  all  questions,  not  too  minute,  which  habitu- 
ally^ arise.  Having  read  the  London  papers  three  weeks,  and 
"Galignani  "  and  "  The  Swiss  Times"  as  man}-  mouths,  I 
now  see  that  I  might  j-ears  ago,  by  a  trainiug  of  one  season, 
have  become  a  valuable  English  editor  for  a  first-class  Ameri- 
can dail}'.  Nobody,  of  course,  will  ever  penetrate  Spanish 
politics  ;  and  there  is  a  m^'stery  about  the  Swiss  Constitu- 
tion :  but  ever}-  thing  else,  how  plain  !  —  at  least,  how  plain 
compared  to  our  own  affairs  ! 

The  London  papers  of,  say  Monday,  give  us  long  articles 
on  ever}'  French  crisis  or  important  debate  of  Saturday 
night ;  and  their  articles  are  of  ver}'  much  the  same  descrip- 
tion as  those  they  give  on  English  affairs.  They  are  grave, 
with  good  long  circumlocutor}'  preambles,  and  something 
about  former  French  ministries,  changing  Peel  and  Can- 
ning and  Palmerston  for  men  of  corresponding  rank  here. 
The  French  paper,  for  aught  I  see,  discusses  politics  as 
freely  as  the  English  paper.  Perhaps,  if  there  were  danger 
of  turbulent  times,  this  would  be  different.  The  policeman 
seems  to  be  doing  nothing  more  oppressive  than  taking 
statistics  at  the  omnibus-stations,  or  preparing  to  "go  for  " 
the  fellow  who  draws  out  a  friction-match  and  threatens  to 
smoke  at  the  circus. 

I  seldom  hear  of  large  fires  here.  The  one  in  London  in 
February,  which  destroyed  the  Pantechnicon,  would  hardl}' 
have  been  a  week's  wonder  in  any  American  city  of  large 
size.  There  are  plent}'  of  books  on  all  sides,  new  and 
second-hand  ;  and  I  have  seen  here  in  Paris  the  strongest 
indication  I  have  anywhere  seen,  that  our  friends  of  New 
York,  Chicago,  Louisville,  Springfield,  and  Cincinnati,  are 
about  to  succeed  in  making  journalism  an  estate  of  the 
realm.  The}-  build  little  chapels  or  shrines  at  the  corners 
of  the  Parisian  streets,  and  in  the  squares,  —  five-cornered 
places,  about  as  big  as  a  confessional  in  church,  —  for  the  sale 


i 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  375 

of  the  sacred  "  Figaro  "  or  "Temps."  At  the  duval  and 
the  fixed-price  restaurants,  where  the  people  get  excellent 
dinners  for  1  franc  75,  or  2  francs  25,  their  delicious  soups 
are  made  frequently  of  macaroni  or  vermicelli,  cut  up  into 
the  shape  of  letters  of  the  alphabet, — A,  B,  C,  &c. ;  which 
ma}',  for  aught  I  know,  be  a  governmental  plan  of  education  ; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  ma}-  be  a  device  of  the  ultra-repub- 
licans, requiring  a  ke^-,  perhaps,  to  unlock  radical  intent. 
These  eating-houses,  by  the  way,  are  excellent  in  every 
respect.  The  cafes  are  not  to  be  so  well  spoken  of.  When 
here  on  our  first  visit,  we  had  rooms  and  kept  house  in  the 
Latin  Quarter,  Rue  Jacob,  —  Hotel  de  Saxe,  if  you  will 
know  more  particularly',  —  had  our  breakfast  at  home,  and 
our  dinner  (at  six  p.m.)  at  one  of  these  cluvcds.  The  dinner 
seldom  cost  us  more  than  five  francs  (three  of  us)  ;  and 
it  was  as  nice  and  perfect  as  could  be  desired,  and  in- 
cluded Macon  wine,  a  ver}'  fair  description,  though  I  am  no 
judge  of  wines.  I  do  not  feel  prepared  to  discuss  the  wine 
and  beer  question  as  to  the  good  or  evil  eifects  of  either 
beverage ;  but  I  have  an  idea  that  there  are  questions  of 
climate,  custom,  stomach,  brain,  youth,  age,  vigor,  debilit}-, 
political  economy,  personal  obstinacy,  philanthropy,  and 
non-interference,  which  must  for  a  long  time,  bj-  their  fric- 
tion, centripetal  and  centrifugal  forces,  and  so  on,  prevent 
an}'  decisive  settlement  during  30ur  or  my  day.  This  is  a 
topic  I  feel  not  half  so  much  like  dogmatizing  about  as  I  did 
twenty  years  ago. 

There  are  great  shows  of  pictures  in  Paris  now ;  among 
others,  a  "Christ"  by  Bounat,  concerning  which  there  is 
much  discussion,  though  not  much  is  possible  as  to  its  great 
power  and  merit  as  a  work  of  art.  It  is  as  rationalistic  a 
Christ  as  Mr.  Weiss  or  an}'  other  member  of  the  Radical 
Club  could  desire  ;  and  I  have  an  idea  that  some  of  the 
"conservative  "  members  of  that  society  had  better  buy  it, 
and  set  it  up  in  Mr.  Sargent's  or  Dr.  Bartol's  parlor,  to 
counteract  the  worship  of  Buddha,  which  is  thought  to  be  the 
latest  tendency  of  the  "  advanced  thought"  of  Boston. 


876  "  WARRING  TON: " 

Carlsbad,  Austria,  June  30. 

Relatively  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  I  can  hardly  tell  j-ou 
where  this  place  is  ;  for  the  guide-books  are  deficient  in  large 
maps.  It  is,  however,  in  Bohemia,  about  latitude  49°  or  50°, 
and  in  a  north-easterly'  direction  from  Nuremberg ;  not  far, 
indeed,  as  to  hours,  from  Dresden,  Berlin,  Prague,  and  the 
rest  of  the  great  German  places.  Carlsbad  is  famous  as  a 
watering-place.  It  is  on  both  sides  of  the  River  Tepl,^ 
which  is  a  rapid,  rocky  stream,  about  as  wide  as  Washington 
Street,  Boston,  where  "  The  Journal  "  oflSce  is  situated  (in- 
clusive of  sidewalks),  crossed  by  numerous  bridges,  only  a 
few  of  which  are  for  carriages.  The  streets  are  ver}'  narrow, 
and  fast  driving  out  of  the  question :  indeed,  the  streets  on 
the  sides  where  the  springs  are  situated  are  so  crowded  in 
the  morning  with  drinkers,  from  six  o'clock  till  eight,  that 
carnages  are  then  practically  interdicted.  The  river  has  a 
rock}'  bed  ;  and  out  of  its  rocks,  known  as  Sprudelschale,  the 
waters  break  out  violently. 

The  oldest  of  these  springs  is  called  the  Sprudel ;  and 
this  is  the  hottest,  — 167°  Fahrenheit.  The  others,  nine  or 
ten  in  number,  are  of  various  degrees  of  temperature :  the 
difference  in  them  consists,  they  sa}',  only  in  this,  the  in- 
gredients being  the  same,  —  sulphur,  salt,  and  carbonate  of 
soda.  There  are  plent}'  of  phj^sicians  here,  each  one  of 
whom  seems  to  have  Avritten  a  little  treatise  ;  and  I  believe 
the}'  agree  in  these  particulars.  The  chief  value  in  a  ph3'si- 
cian  would  seem  to  be  in  the  sagacit}'  and  experience  which 
enable  him  to  discover  3'our  malad}*,  and  Avhether  or  not 
persons  similarly  troubled  have  been  relieved  or  cured  by 
these  waters,  or  by  the  regimen  imposed  as  an  accompani- 
ment. You  find  the  allopathic  and  homoeopathic  distinctions 
kept  up  ;  though  Avhat  the}'  can  mean,  when  the  only  medi- 
cine is  a  cup,  more  or  less,  of  Sprudel  or  Schlossbrunn  or 
Marktbrunn  or  Theresenbrunn,  and  more  or  less  advice  as 
to  whether  you  had  better  take  beer  and  butter,  or  abstain 
therefrom,  I  cannot  tell. 

1  A  branch  of  the  Eger. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  377 

Carlsbad  is  an  inexpensive  place,  compared  with  the  large 
cities  and  towns  :  of  course  it  is  so  compared  with  the  fash- 
ionable watering-places  of  the  United  States,  where  3-ou  have 
to  pa}'  the  absurd  American  hotel-prices.  The  paternal 
government  of  Austria  helps  the  town  b}'  sending  down 
Mr.  Labitzky,  who  is  said  to  be  a  rival  of  Strauss,  —  and  he 
is  certainly  no  mean  rival, — and  his  orchestra.  The}- plaj- 
from  six  to  eight  a.m.  at  the  Sprudel  spring,  and  every 
day  at  four  or  six  p.m.  at  some  one  of  the  principal  cafes. 
There  is,  however,  a  "general  tax"  and  a  "music-tax," 
which  the  government  has  imposed  upon  every  traveller  who 
stays  moi'e  than  eight  days.  He  ma}'  be  as  healthy  as  "  the 
oldest  Mason,"  — who  died  last  week  in  Oregon,  having  ex- 
hausted the  pleasures  of  the  other  thirty  five  or  six  States, 
—  and  as  deaf  as  a  post  or  an  adder:  still  he  must  pay,  — 
"  couchant  or  levant,  he  must  pay."  I  beg  pardon  :  physi- 
cians and  surgeons,  with  their  families,  are  exempt  from 
"the  general  tax,"  and  also  all  "indigent  pei'sons ;  "  and 
the  last-named  class  is  exempt  from  the  "  music-tax  "  also. 

Tlie  weather  here  is  as  capricious  as  in  New  England.  It 
was  cold  when  we  got  here,  ten  days  ago ;  but  has  been 
generally  warm  and  pleasant  since.  The  weather  Avhich  is 
altogether  lovely  is  always  somewhere  else.  I  find  some 
people  think  it  is  in  Egypt  and  S}ria  ;  and  one  gentleman 
told  me  he  only  found  it  in  xilgeria.  AVe  have  heard  of  the 
cold  and  disagreeable  April  and  May  in  Boston  and  vicinity  ; 
and  so,  on  the  whole,  are  not  so  much  disposed  to  grumble 
over  the  same  traits  in  the  European  spring.  I  observe  that 
neither  rain  nor  mud  has  much  etiect  upon  the  water-drinker 
here.  lie  seems  to  believe  in  it  more  implicitly  than  the 
average  man  who  is  under  other  descriptions  of  medical 
.treatment.  You  find  him  turning  out  early,  hurrying  along 
to  get  a  place  which  will  bring  him  quickly  to  his  medi- 
cine, and  then  patiently  returning,  and,  even  on  moist  and 
disagreeable  mornings,  taking  his  hour's  exercise  on  his 
way  to  "The  Elephant,"  or  "Fupp's,"  or  the  "Sans 
Souci,"  — 


378  "WARRINGTON:" 

"  Smiting  the  sturdy  earth  with  many  a  pensive  lick." 

The  weather  is  reall}',  however,  the  second  topic  of  con- 
versation in  point  of  interest.  "  How  do  you  find  j-our- 
self  ?  how  do  your  legs  serve  you  ?  is  this  your  first  ?  is 
this  3'our  second?  (and  so  on  up  to  3'our  'fourth,'  making 
the  new-comer  think  he  is  helping  to  examine  charades  in 
a  3'oung  people's  magazine,)  has  the  doctor  put  you  on  the 
baths  3'et?  "  are  the  commonest  questions.  There  are  water- 
baths  and  mud-baths  here.  A  gentleman  who  has  taken  a 
mud-bath,  and  is  enthusiastic  over  it,  says  the  substance  is 
about  the  consistency  of  the  liquid  the  waA-side  "  flag  "  grows 
in.  The  patient  resembles,  while  undergoing  the  operation, 
an  angle-worm  of  the  saurian  period.  It  is  not  anj'  thing 
which  sticks,  however,  like  a  vote  on  the  Sahny  Bill,  or  a 
suspicion  of  connection  with  the  Sanborn  Contract,  but  is 
easily'  got  rid  of,  and  leaves  an  agreeable  feeling. 

extract  froil  a  letter  to  mr.  george  b.  monroe, 
("templeton.") 

Carlsbad,  Austria,  July  15, 1874. 

My  dear  Monroe,  —  I  have  this  week  got  hold  of  a  file 
of  "Evening  Gazettes"  (six  or  more)  in  Ma}'  and  June; 
and  they  have  reminded  me  of  a  promise  I  made  to  send  ^-ou 
a  letter.  I  have  seen  "The  Journal,"  also,  from  about  the 
8th  to  the  2Gth  of  June.  I  have  read  the  legislative  pro- 
ceedings. After  three  or  four  daj-s'  reading  of  the  Senate's 
doings  on  the  Tunnel  Bill  and  the  various  liquor  laws,  I 
felt  as  Douglas  Jerrold  did  when  he  read  Browning's  "  Sor- 
dello."  He  rushed  into  the  street,  smiting  his  forehead,  and 
shouting,  "  Am  I  mad?  am  I  mad?  " 

Butler  is  apparent!}'  dead  :  if  so,  it  is  a  case  of  felo  de  se, 
for  no  man  ever  had  a  better  chance  to  be  governor.  A 
man  of  Butler's  real  vigor  of  mind  ought  to  be  able  to  find 
in  Massachusetts  politics  enough  to  build  up  a  reform  party 
on,  even  though  the  people,  as  in  his  ease,  are  averse  and 
hostile  to  him.  Have  seen  only  one  number  of  "  The  Com- 
monwealth "  since  I  left  home;   but  the  German,  Italian, 


f 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  379 

and  French  porters  and  waiters  have  furnished  rue  with 
all  the  broken  English  I  want,  without  reading  Slack's 
editorials. 

The  Supreme  Court,  it  seems,  is  still  governed  by  the 
opinion  in  the  case  of  Wheelgrease.  As  near  as  I  can  make 
it  out,  their  decision  is,  that  analogy  gives  the  School  Com- 
mittee of  Boston  power  to  determine  the  qualifications  of  its 
members.  The  court,  even  if  it  declined  to  interfere,  ought, 
at  least,  to  have  inserted  some  dictum  against  such  usurpa- 
tion of  power  as  the  Boston  School  Committee  has  been 
guilty  of.  It  seems  to  me,  howcA'er,  that  whoever  has  had 
the  management  of  these  cases  has  made  a  continued  mis- 
take in  appealing  to  the  court.  It  is  a  popular  question, 
and,  as  such,  must  be  settled  in  Massachusetts.  It  will  do, 
perhaps,  to  ask  the  opinion  of  a  court  which  is  (1st)  able, 
and  (2d)  which  pays  some  due  and  proper  regard  to  popu- 
lar rights  in  the  light  and  under  the  guidance  of  our  own 
Constitution.  Our  court  is  not  "able,"  and  apparently-  has 
not  looked  at  the  Declaration  of  Rights,  —  not  a  member 
of  the  court  since  he  was  appointed.  Almost  the  only  part 
of  the  Constitution  our  court  has  an}'  right  to  look  at  is  the 
part  it  has  carefullj-  avoided  seeing.  I  except  the  clause 
which  relates  to  the  judicial  salaries  and  tenures. 

To-morrow  (Sunday-)  we  are  off  to  Munich,  and  thence, 
after  a  da}-  or  two,  to  Ragaz  in  Switzerland  for  about  two 
weeks,  where  people  go  to  "complete  their  cure"  after 
drinking  the  waters  here.     It  is  a  place  for  warm  baths. 

Now  be  sure  and  give  m}-  love  to  all  friends. 


380  "WARRINGTON-" 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  SITUATION  IN  1874-1875. 

That  is  not  a  sentimentally  amiable  mind  which  feels  any- 
great  satisfaction  —  what  you  may  call  a  thrill  of  it  —  at  the 
irreparable  misfortune  or  disease  of  an}'  old  friend,  or  any 
old  part}'  organization  with  which  he  ma}'  have  been  con- 
nected. I  can  understand  what  Jerry  Black's  or  Brick 
Pomeroy's  emotions  may  be ;  but  a  Republican's  must  be 
rather  different.  There  are  so  many  good  fellows  and  old 
friends  dead,  or  maimed  for  life,  and  left  to  be  picked  up  by 
the  ambulances!  Here  is  a  hand  with  an  old  friend's  ring 
on  one  of  its  fingers  ;  (perhaps  it  was  stolen  ;  but  you  have 
seen  and  admired  it  so  many  times  !)  a  sleeve-button  which 
you  recognize  as  having  belonged  to  your  quondam  fellow- 
committee-man  (it  was  a  gift  from  Contractor  Quartz ;  but 
it  adorned  irreproachable  linen,  and  an  arm  often  extended  to 
give  you  a  hearty  grasp).     Forgive  these  tears. 

Mr.  Carpenter  of  Wisconsin,  of  the  Republican  senatorial 
leaders,  seems  about  the  sole  survivor.  Morton,  an  abler 
and  more  dangerous  man,  went  down  a  month  ago.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  Indiana  election  taught  him  that  the  day  for  ^ 
framing  constitutional  amendments  with  the  furtive  and 
dangerous  clause,  or  claw,  to  the  effect  that  "Congress  is 
hereby  empowered  to  carry  out  this  amendment  by  appropri- 
ate legislation,"  is  now  past.  That  word  "appropriate"  in 
such  a  place  is  an  exceedingly  bad  one.  Conkling  —  who, 
with  liis  mind  on  Webster,  and  his  mind's  eye  on  the  tradi- 
tional blue  coat  and  brass  buttons,  got  himself  and  his  one 


I 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  381 

speech  elaborately  up  at  Utica,  and  went  forth  to  Brookl3-n 
or  New  York  to  save  the  country  and  part}''  —  is  as  badlj' 
beaten  as  an3'bod3^  else.  Chandler,  probabl}',  is  onW  fright- 
ened ;  but  he,  after  all,  is  not  so  bad  a  senator  or  man  as  he 
might  be.  Butler — but  words  are  vain  here!  Boutwell  is 
as  badl}'  beaten  as  he.  The  household  troops  are  more  than 
decimated,  and  the  militar}^  staff  is  broken  in  pieces.  The 
worst  beaten  man,  however,  does  not  know  it.  With  the 
salary-grab  in  his  pocket,  and  the  parasite  at  his  elbow,  what 
does  he  care? 

One  of  the  papers  speaks  of  this  and  the  other  campaigns 
as  "  war."  There  is  a  certain  degree  of  appropriateness  in 
the  word ;  for  a  defeat,  especiall}'  so  sweeping  a  defeat, 
brings  about  as  much  personal  distress  as  one  on  the  field  of 
actual  battle.  The  armies  numbered  their  tens  of  thousands. 
But  is  it  not  about  time  to  stop  this  sort  of  nomenclature  ? 
An  election  ought  to  be  mainl}'  a  change  of  policies,  with 
change  enough  of  men  to  keep  the  forces  together  and  in 
good  order,  and  no  more.  If  this  election  means  an}-  thing, 
it  means  a  vote  of  total  want  of  confidence  in  the  wisdom 
and  capacit}'  of  the  administration  and  the  Republican  party 
as  practical  managers  of  the  aflTairs  of  government.  The 
White  House  and  the  Capitol  are  both  pronounced  against. 
Root  and  l)ranch,  the  party  is  defeated.  East  and  West, 
North  and  Soutli,  it  is  smashed. 

Now,  if  this  were  a  defeat  of  the  antisla^'tr3'  polic}' ;  if  it 
indicated  any  purpose  to  disregard  the  constitutional  amend- 
ments, or  to  restore  the  government  to  the  hands  of  unre- 
generatc  rebels, — it  would  be  proper  to  talk  about  renewing 
the  "  war  "  in  1876.  But  it  is  mainly'  a  declaration  against 
unfaithfulness  and  incompetenc}'  in  the  practical  aff'airs  of 
government.  If  an}-  tendency  or  principle  has  been  rebuked, 
it  is  the  tendency  toward  the  predominance  of  that  rule 
which  I  heard  Mr.  Boutwell  express  not  long  ago:  "  If  3'ou 
want  good  government,  3'ou  must  pa}'  for  it;"  b}'  which  he 
meant  simply  (in  the  light  of  current  events),  "Trust  those 
who  are  '  on  theii-  make '  to  give  3-ou  good  administration, 


382  "WARRINGTON: " 

and  good  in  proportion  to  the  paj",  and  don't  ask  too  many- 
questions."     As  Hosea  Biglow  said,  — 

"  Witliered  be  the  nose  that  pokes 
Into  the  public  i)rintiug!" 

If  anj'  principle  is  pronounced  against,  it  is  tliat  "which 
has  ripened  into  the  overthrow  of  State  governments  by 
judicial  decisions  and  cannon-shot,  as  in  Louisiana ;  which 
proposes,  as  in  Morton's  Constitutional  Amendment,  to  let 
Congress  supervise  the  electoral  votes,  and,  in  emergencies, 
make  a  score  of  statutor}'  sections  to  cany  out  the  funda- 
mental law,  and,  if  necessar}-,  nullify-  the  popular  verdict, 
and  change  the  actual  result.  And  both  these  tendencies 
or  principles  ought  to  be  done  away  with.  The  people  are 
agaiust  both,  by  vast  majorities.  Wh}'  not  see  it  and 
acknowledge  it?  Wh}'  allow  the  Democratic  part}'  to  be  the 
champion  of  these  reforms,  and  insist  on  trying  to  put  that 
party  down  b}'  bayonets  at  the  South,  and  bad  laws  and 
practices  at  the  North  ?  There  can  be  but  one  result.  If 
the  Republicans  carrj-  the  country  in  1876,  it  will  be  because 
they  hold  the  purse  and  sword.  The  people  are  against  it. 
They  may  be  loath  to  trust  the  Democrats,  and  may  refuse 
to  do  so  ;  but  it  will  be  the  ver}-  last  time.  The  people  are 
in  earnest,  although  they  are  as  yet  unorganized,  and  grop- 
ing about  for  leaders  and  methods.  There  is  to  be  an  end 
to  this  semi-milftary  regime,  this  mixture  of  "West  Point  and 
Sing  Sing,  —  thievery  organized,  and  marching  to  drum  and 
fife. 

Almost  ever^-bod}'  sees  what  the  situation  is,  —  great 
masses  of  honest  men,  and  lovers  of  good  government  and 
con-ect  administration,  differentl}'  dressed,  in  sight  of  each 
other,  and  only  held  from  fraternization  and  peace  by  party 
drill.  Republicans  are  admonished  to  keep  their  eyes  opened, 
because  there  are  lots  of  rebels  on  the  other  side  ;  and  Dem- 
ocrats are  held  in  readiness  for  a  fight,  because,  in  the  last 
one,  Butler  was  noticed  to  have  an  important  command. 
There  need  not  be  an  entire  disarmament  at  once ;  but  a 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  383 

"peace  footing  "  ought  to  be  contemplated,  at  least.  "Why 
not  let  Massachusetts  lead  in  this  re-organization,  as  in  1848? 

The  Republican  part}'  lias  had  the  government  nearl}'  all 
the  time  since  1860  ;  and  will  have  the  Executive  and  Senate 
two  3-ears  longer,  unless  Grant  "rats  "  to  the  other  side,  as 
Johnson  did.  It  has  had  a  hard  time  of  it.  It  had  to  save 
the  country  from  dismemberment,  and,  of  course,  to  employ 
all  the  "  war-powers."  The  pioneer  and  woodsman  expends 
a  good  deal  of  tobacco-juice  and  swear' ng  upon  the  trees  he 
has  to  cut  down,  and,  when  he  gets  home,  is  verj'  apt  to  make 
a  spittoon  in  every  corner  of  his  house,  and  to  damn  his 
wife  and  bo^s  on  pretty  small  provocation.  So  the  "war- 
powers"  became  favorite  reading,  and  sublime  subjects  of 
contemplation,  long  after  we  ought  to  have  resumed  the 
theory  laid  down  in  the  New-England  constitutions, — that 
the  military  shall  always  be  kept  in  an  exact  subordination 
to  the  civil  power.  The  "  colonel  "  multiplied  inordinatel}' ; 
and  there  were  more  concealed  bullets  in  the  adipose  parts 
.than  would  ever  have  been  discovered,  or  ever  will  be,  if 
post-mortem  examinations  are  universal.  Of  course,  tliis 
dissipation  has  "told"  upon  the  party.  It  is  not  as  long- 
lived  as  a  part}'  which  has  had  less  temptation  to  intemper- 
ate living.  The  number  of  common  drunkards  who  live  to 
the  age  of  ninety-thi-ee,  and  then  die  because  the  quality  of 
new  rum  has  depreciated,  is  small. 

No  wonder  the  Republican  party  is  prematurely  old.  But 
let  the  fact  be  recognized ;  for  it  is  a  fact.  Its  legal  and 
proper  expenditures  have '  been  enormous ;  its  necessary 
attaches  and  holders  of  office  largely  increased  in  number. 
Its  unwounded  and  unharmed  pensioners  are  counted  by  tens 
of  thousands  ;  and  quack  Butler,  who  insisted  during  the  war 
that  the  educated  soldier  must  give  way  to  the  lawyer  and 
politician,  was  equally  positive  after  the  war  that  the  civilian 
should  give  way  to  the  corporal,  the  sutler,  and  the  army  con- 
tractor. The  consequence  of  all  this  is,  that  the  party  has 
impaired  its  constitution.  It  is  in  no  condition,  physically 
or  morally,  to  carry  on  ijublic  affairs.     Why  not  put  it,  also, 


384  "  WARRINGTON: " 

on  the  retired  or  pension  list  ?  A  beginning  has  been  made 
this  3'ear,  to  be  sure.  Butler  himself  has  found  his  own 
Togus  Springs  at  last. 

Dissipation,  decay,  premature  old  age,  waste  (perhaps 
inevitable  waste)  of  vital  powers,  —  these  have  left  the  party 
unable  to  cope  with  its  adversary.  Of  course,  the  quack 
doctors,  like  Boutwell,  Conkling,  Morton,  have  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  it ;  and  the  thieves  crowding  the  ante-rooms, 
slyly  fitting  their  false  keys  into  the  locks,  or  carrying  off 
the  plate  and  pictures,  have  hastened  the  demise  of  the  victim. 
It  made  no  difference  that  the  successful  party  was  more 
than  suspected  of  being  led  hy  as  great  rascals  as  the  Repub- 
lican. It  was  a  strong-handed  part}^,  partl}^  because  it  was 
poor  and  desperate.  I  am  a  man,  says  the  hired  murderer 
of  Banquo, 

"  So  weary  with  disasters,  tugged  with  fortune, 
That  I  would  set  my  life  on  any  chance 
To  mend  it,  or  be  rid  on't." 

It  seems  impossible  to  determine,  and,  in  the  interest  of, 
reform,  unwise  to  try  to  discover,  any  one  cause  for  the  prob- 
able speed}'  termination  of  the  life  of  the  Republican  party. 

Why  shall  not  the  still  vigorous-bodied  and  vigorous- 
minded  men  co-operate  with  the  vigorous-minded  of  their 
old  opponents,  and  take  the  affairs  of  State  in  their  own 
hands?  Shall  the}^  be  prevented  b}^  the  theor}-  which  still 
supposes  that  the  Republican  party  is  going  to  exist  and  be 
victorious  for  a  number  of  years  to  come?  This  is  preposter- 
ous. Gen.  "Wilson  predicted  that  it  would  live  "  a  thousand 
years."  It  is  as  likely  to  live  a  thousand  years  after  1873 
as  it  is  to  live  three  years.  I  have  a  healthy  vigilance  of 
feeling,  I  hope,  against  the  danger  of  a  Democratic  re-action  ; 
but  as  between  Republican  interpretation  and  misrule  at 
Washington,  and  such  a  re-action,  I  cannot  feel  that  there 
is  anj'  occasion  for  the  most  radical  of  abolitionists  to  be 
alarmed. 

The  Democrats  do  not  care  whether  Grant,  or  any  other 
man  of  the  other  side,  is  in  power.     "For  Banquo's  issue 


{ 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  385 

have  I  filed  my  mind;"  and  the}'  care  not  ^^•hether  the 
"issue"  be  Morton,  or  Washburn,  or  Bkiine :  the}'  are 
"  agin'  it,"  as  Pat  was  against  the  government,  no  matter 
who  runs.  If  the  "ins"  have  no  principle,  but  only  claim 
the  government  because  they  have  it  already,  it  is  a  waste 
of  power  to  change  leaders.  Grant,  by  a  sort  of  stupid 
instinct,  seems  to  know  this  well  enough ;  and  his  followers 
will  make  all  the  rivals  understand  it  before  1875  has  ex- 
pired. No :  it  is  not  b}'  inveighing  against  the  third  term 
in  itself  that  the  Grant  dynasty  is  to  be  overthrown :  it 
must  be  b}'  persuading  the  people  that  a  third  term  of  Grant- 
ism  is  daugei'ous.  There  is  no  valuable  principle  involved 
in  this  opposition  to  a  third  term  in  itself  The  people  see 
the  inconsistenc}'  of  declaring  against  three  terms  of  a  j)resi- 
dent,  and  for  three,  four,  or  five  terms  for  a  senator,  and  an 
interminable  term  for  officers  of  the  civil  service.  No  per- 
petuation of  greed  and  incompetency., — this  should  be  the 
war-cry  ;  and  this  the  people  can  be  made  to  understand. 

It  is  now  just  twenty  3'ears  (1854)  since  the  AVhig  party 
recognized  that  its  life  had  practically  terminated,  two  jears 
before,  in  the  defeat  of  Scott,  and  that  it  was  hopelessl}'' 
disordered,  in  fact,  even  two  years  earlier.  It  was  in  the 
same  year  (1854)  that  the  Democratic  part}'  forfeited  finally 
the  confidence  of  the  American  people.  Old  Mr.  Buchanan 
was  put  into  the  house  as  a  sort  of  poisoner  and  nurse 
combined,  to  make  the  patient  die  easy.  The  Republicans 
are  in  a  similar  position.  Their  last  victory,  if  they  win  it 
at  all,  will  be  in  1876  ;  and  the  same  thing  precisely  may  be 
said  of  the  Democrats.  Why  not,  then,  as  in  1854,  prepare 
for  the  necessarily  slow  but  inevitable  work  of  making  a 
new  party  to  take  the  place  of  the  two  old  ones  ?  The  pro- 
cess by  which  this  is  to  be  accomplished  seems  to  me  to  be 
to  support  all  men  who  have  been  elected  on  a  reform  basis, 
and  who  have  proved  to  be  true  men.  It  seems  to  be  no 
use  to  say,  "Go  to;  let  us  make  a  new  party."  This  did 
very  well  in  1848  and  1854  ;  but  tlie  shysters  have,  in  twenty 
years,  learned  how  to  jump  on,  and  control  or  kill,  all  new 


386  "WARRINGTON: " 

parties  which  begin  small.  However,  it  may  come  to  this  ; 
and  it  is  wise  to  be  prepared  for  it,  and  to  give  hospitality  to 
the  idea. 

"Not  our  logical  faculty,  but  our  imaginative  one  "  (says 
Carl3-le) ,  "  is  king  over  us  :  I  might  say  priest  and  prophet  to 
lead  us  heavenward,  or  magician  or  wizard  to  lead  us  hell- 
ward.  Even  in  the  dullest  existence  there  is  a  sheen,  either 
of  inspiration  or  of  madness,  that  gleams  in  from  the  circum- 
ambient eternit}",  and  colors  with  its  own  hues  our  little 
islet  of  time.  The  understanding  is  indeed  \h\  window ; 
but  fantasj'  is  th}'  ej'e,  with  its  color-giving  retina,  healthy 
or  diseased.  Have  I  not  known  five  hundred  living  soldiers 
sabred  into  crow's-meat  for  a  piece  of  glazed  cotton  which 
they  called  their  flag,  which,  had  you  sold  it  in  any  market- 
cross,  would  not  have  brought  above  three  gi-oschen?  Did 
not  the  whole  Hungarian  nation  rise,  like  some  tumultuous, 
moon-stirred  Atlantic,  when  Kaiser  Joseph  pocketed  their 
iron  crown,  an  implement  in  size  and  commercial  value  little 
differing  from  a  horse-shoe?  " 

And  the  flag  and  the  blue  uniform  were  to  the  slave,  not  the  . 

symbols  of  patriotism,  but  something  far  better  and  higher,  fll 
—  the  s^'mbols  of  emancipation  and  redemption.  B}'  and 
by,  when  our  talk  is  of  railroads  and  tariffs  and  taxes,  the 
unlearned  voter,  black  and  white,  will  find  his  choice  of  a 
ballot  more  diflScult  than  it  is  now.  So  long  as  the  word 
"republican"  (which  is  the  word  best  known  to  the  negro 
after  the  word  "  Lincoln  ")  means  freedom  and  safet}-  to  the 
emancipated  class,  there  will  be  no  question  how  the  mass 
of  that  class  will  vote ;  and  whoever  in  the  South  does  not 
choose  to  go  the  rebel  ticket  must  go  for  giving  the  black 
loyalist  a  fair  chance  at  the  polls  and  in  the  public  offices. 

JUSTINIAN    PETIGRU'S    OPINION   OF     THE    POLITICAL    SITUATION 

IN   1875. 

There  may  not  be  any  very  striking  resemblance  between 
the  events  of  to-da}^  and  those  of  a  hundred  years  ago ; 
but,  if  any  can  be  traced,  it  looks  as  if  Mr.  Brj-ant,  and  Mr. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  387 

Evarts,  and  Gov.  Gaston,  are  occupying  the  places  of  Sara 
Adams  and  the  other  Massachusetts  patriots.  I  think  these 
gentlemen,  and  those  who  act  with  them,  will  be  likely  to 
solve  the  question,  what  is  to  be  done  about  it,  about  as  soon 
as  au3'bodv.  We  are  to  be  congratulated  that  this  Common- 
wealth speaks  with  all  the  courage  and  plainness  that  it  is 
needful  to  speak,  and  with  all  the  prudence,  considering  the 
danger  that  the  governor's  opinions  and  language,  as  a 
Democrat,  addressed  to  a  legislature  which  is  Republican 
in  both  branches,  might  possibly  be  charged  to  partisanship 
rather  than  to  patriotism.  I  do  not  believe  that  this  can  be 
done  with  an}'  degree  of  fairness. 

All  things  at  "Washington  tend  to  show  that  the  Repub- 
lican party,  as  an  organization  professing  to  have  certain 
principles  of  administration,  is  dead :  I  do  not  mean  de- 
feated, but  extinct.  If  any  thing  better  can  be  said  of  it, 
it  is  this  :  that  it  is  in  the  condition  of  that  organism  whose 
exit  was  arrested  b}''  some  mesmeric  process  (the  stor^-  is 
related  b}'  Poe),  which,  the  moment  the  spell  was  lifted,  be- 
came a  stinking  mass  of  putrescence.  It  is  of  little  use  for 
the  newspapers  to  debate  whether  the  President  or  Congress 
is  the  more  to  blame  up  to  this  time.  Both  are  of  the  same 
"  party,"  thus  far  ;  and  that  is  the  very  worst  feature  of  the 
case  for  the  party.  While  the  President  usurps  power,  the 
legislative  branch  consents  to  the  usurpation. 

To  recur  to  the  point  I  set  out  with,  it  seems  to  me  the 
most  important  thing  for  all  reformers  is  to  make  the  party 
leaders  know  that  the  Republican  part}'  cannot  be  saved 
without  reform,  and  that  reform  in  it  is  hopeless.  So  long 
as  there  is  incredulity  on  this  point,  so  long  the  moribund 
concern  will  refrain  from  the  last  offices  of  religion,  and  will 
have  hopes  of  protracting  its  life  when  its  life  is  useless  and 
a  nuisance.  We  must  leave  the  metaphor  somewhere.  It  is 
fortunate  that  a  party's  death  does  not  kill  its  members,  ex- 
cept those  who  deserve  to  be  killed.  As  soon  as  it  is  known 
and  acknowledged  that  the  organization  has  outlived  all  use- 
fulness, and  that  ti-ying  to  keep  it  alive  keeps  also  alive  its 
rival,  equally  perhaps  to  be  feared,  parties  will  re-organize. 


388  ''WARBINGTON :" 

It  is  suggested  that  we  are  a  little  in  the  dark  —  haze  is 
the  word  —  as  to  the  actual  state  of  things  in  Louisiana.  It 
would  seem,  that  whenever  an  election  is  held  in  that  State, 
unless  it  appears  within  a  few  da3's  that  the  administration 
has  won  the  \dctory,  it  is  customary'  to  hold  a  cabinet  meet- 
ing to  see  what  the  trouble  is,  and  how  to  cure  it.  After 
the  recent  election,  it  was  not  certain  at  once  whether  this 
part}'  had  succeeded,  or  not.  The  probabilities  were  all 
against  it ;  for  it  had  been  voted  down  at  the  previous  elec- 
tion ;  and  being  onl}'  upheld  by  the  Federal  judiciarj-,  and 
the  President,  and  the  arm}',  it  was  not  very  likely  that  the 
people  had  turned  round  and  declared  in  its  favor.  In  view 
of  the  danger  of  anarch}',  —  that  is  to  say,  in  view  of 
the  danger  that  the  presidency  miglit  go  into  the  hands  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  1877  for  want  of  a  few  electoral 
Republican  votes  in  the  South-West,  —  every  precaution  was 
taken  at  the  polls ;  but  there  was  a  power  held  in  reserve. 
This  power  turns  out  to  have  been  needed.  The  "  returning 
board ' '  did  its  duty,  and  promptly  turned  and  returned  the 
votes  over  and  over  till  it  had  winnowed  out  a  sufficient 
number  of  Democratic  votes  to  insure  a  Eepublican  majority  ; 
and  the  next  step  is  to  hold  a  "  cabinet  meeting."  The 
attorney-general  emphatically  repeated  the  views  before  ex- 
pressed by  him  as  to  sustaining  the  "board,"  and  "  at  all 
hazards  ;  "  and  his  "  views  "  are  said  to  have  been  very  much 
approved,  especially  by  the  office-holders.  They  are  said  to 
be  similar  to  those  of  the  late  lamented  Judge  Duvall,  so  ably 
supported  by  the  army,  together  with  a  new  and  profound 
constitutional  argument  which  the  President  has  lately  pro- 
cured. I  believe  I  am  the  first  to  receive  a  copy  of  this  ;  and 
I  herewith  place  it  before  you :  — 

Department  of  Justice,  Jan.  1,  1875. 

To  THE  Attokxey-General.  Sir,  —  This  is  no  time  to  stand 
upon  technicalities.  If  tliere  is  nothing  apparent  in  the  Constitution 
which  justifies  the  President  in  rescuing  the  government  from  Demo- 
cratic anarchy,  we  must  find  it  in  the  statutes ;  if  not  there,  iti  the 
city  or  town  ordinances;  and  if  we  have  to  go  farther,  why,  we  must 
(Lynch's  Texas  Reports,  vol.  sxxi.  p.  629).     "If  such  tilings  go  on, 


i 


PEX-PORTjRAITS.  389 

who  of  us  is  safe?"  (Chief  Justice  Keelynge.)  See  also  Bellweather 
on  the  "Rule  of  Thumb,"  and  Widesworth,  4th  edition;  Hob  Hoy's 
"Ethical  Philosophy,"  et  coetera,  ex  cathedra,  etymology,  270  pas,*<im, 
"  K  your  Constitution  fails,  fall  hack  upon  the  Bj^-Laws,"  saith  good 
old  Judge  Jeffries.  But  I  will  not  bore  you  with  further  citations. 
If  the  lawyers  of  the  Senate  want  any  more,  send  them  to  me,  or  get 
Flanagan  to  make  a  speech. 

All  this,  however,  is  verbiage  and  supererogation.  I  maintain  that 
the  right  to  interfere  is  clearly  stated  in  the  Constitution  itself.  Here 
it  is,  Art.  IV.  Sect.  4:  "The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  ecenj 
State  in  the  Union  a  republican  form  of  r/overnmcnt,  and  shall  protect 
each  of  them  against  invasion,  and,  on  application  of  the  legislature 
or  of  the  executive  (when  the  legislature  cannot  be  convened), 
against  domestic  violence."  "A  republican  form  of  government." 
What  does  this  mean  ?  Why,  a  Republican  adniimstration,  of  course. 
To  suppose  otherwise  is  to  suppose  the  men  of  1787  stood  upon 
matters  of  mere  "form," — an  insult  to  their  memoiy.  "We  are  a 
spry  people,  and  don't  stand  for  /onns,"  said  a  Western  jurist,  quoted 
by  Chuzzlewit.  "  For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest,"  saith 
Pope;  i.e.,  none  but  fools  contest  about  "forms  of  government." 
"Summon  from  the  shadowy  past  the/orms  that  once  have  been" 
(Longfellow),  implying  the  obsoleteness  of  all  "forms."  If  this  rule 
prevails,  then  the  United  States  guarantees  "  a  republican  govern- 
ment." If  any  quibbler  says  this  is  not  republican  administration,  I 
answer,  We  are  lucky  to  get  any  thing  republican  nowadays.  (See 
returns  of  Massachusetts  election,  letters  on  file  in  this  department 
from  B.  F.  Butlar  et  al.) 

But  I  will  not  weary  you  with  further  discussion;  although  the 
third  clerk  in  this  oflSce  suggests  ingeniously  that  "domestic''  is 
probably  a  misprint  for  "Democratic,"  and  is  so  understood  and  in- 
terpreted in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tallahassee. 

Justinian  Petioru,  Paymaster. 

Petigru  is  not  exactl}'  pa^-master  ;  but  he  signs  in  this  way 
from  habit.  He  was  in  the  One  Hundredth  Illinois  Regi- 
ment under  Logan  ;  studied  law  afterward,  or  before,  in  the 
ofBce  of  Flanagan  of  Flanagan's  Mills  ;  and,  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  those  two  senators,  —  indorsed  by  Edmunds, 
Zach  Chandler,  and  Conkling,  for  whom  he  had  franlccd 
documents  in  1870,  —  got  a  place  as  digger  and  delver  for 
"cases"  to  fit  the  opinions  of  the  attorney -general.  ]\Ir. 
"Williams  and  Gen.  Grant  reh*  upon  him  veiy  closely.  I 
■will  add,  that  his  version  seems  already-  to  have  instinctively 


390  "WAJREmGTOy:" 

suggested  itself  to  one  or  two  of  the  Boston  dailies.     The 
second  fiddle  at  Lowell  is  engaged  upon  a  libretto  for  the  • 
entire  Constitution,  to  be  set  to  music  on  a  similar  theory* 
and  plan. 

OPINIONS   OF   THE   YOUNG   MEN   OF   1875. 

The  opinions  of  the  joung  men  of  to-da}'  are  highly  im- 
portant. They  are  born  into  an  era  later  than  that  of  anti- 
slaveiy,  but  one  hardly  of  less  consequence.  Their  dail}' 
reading  is  not  of  Texas,  or  the  war  with  Mexico  for  the 
extension  of  slavery,  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  or  the  Kansas 
invasion ;  and  it  is  now  nearly  twenty  years  since  Charles 
Sumner  was  assaulted  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate.  They  are 
thinking  now  of  the  rats  in  the  departments,  of  railroad 
monopolies,  of  labor  problems,  of  financial  puzzles,  of 
questions  of  constitutional  construction,  of  the  formation 
and  amendment  of  statutes  ;  some  of  them,  let  us  hope,  of 
law  reform,  some  of  reform  in  the  other  professions  styled 
"  learned,"  and  of  that  universal  question,  education,  — the 
education  of  the  brain  itself  to  work  for  good  in  every- 
thing. It  is  at  least  a  blunder,  if  uothiug  worse,  to  trj-  and 
bind  them  to  the  old  controversy-,  especially'  if  we  have  noth- 
ing better  to  offer  them  than  Grant's  bayonets  and  the 
Wheeler  compromise,  based  as  that  is  on  nothing  whatever 
except  partisanship,  and  a  determination  to  keep  power  and 
ofiice  for  their  own  sakes.  "VVe  must  give  up  this  attempt :  if 
we  do  not,  we  shall  alienate  the  young  men  and  thinkers,  and 
those  who  are  determined  to  work  in  new  fields  and  to  think 
upon  new  topics.  The  Avoman  question  is  one  of  these, 
growing  in  interest  every  day.  These  old  judges,  like 
Ward  Hunt  and  the  rest,  and  these  old  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives, will  wake  up  some  fine  morning  and  find  them- 
selves taking  with  their  coffee  and  fish-ball  a  newspaper 
account  of  a  political  defeat  at  their  own  doors.  No  such 
stimulus  for  active  reform  as  popular  government ;  and  your 
young  radical, 

"  With  his  hair  in  the  mortar  of  every  new  Zion," 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  391 

is  a  very  uncomfortable  person,  not  only  to  the  conservative, 
but  to  the  radical  Mho  insists  on  keeping  open  old  questions 
which  are  really'  closed  up.  The  Republican  part^'  is  not 
positively  strong,  neither  is  the  administration ;  but  it  is  a 
party,  and  the  admiuistration  is  an  administration,  at  any 
rate  ;  and  there  is,  thus  far,  no  part}'  to  oppose  it.  The  Ohio 
and  other  Copperheads  have  died  out ;  and  if  the  Democrats 
have  sense  enough  to  organize,  so  as  to  take  "  revenue 
reformers  ' '  and  the  Young- America  element  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  —  sa}-  about  1876,  —  there  will  be  a  chance  for  a 
Democratic  victorj'.     After  Grant,  the  deluge. 

THE   MORAL   OF   IT. 

The  moral  seems  to  be,  that,  when  men  think  alike,  the}' 
can  act  together  harmouiousl}' ;  and  that  the  present  political 
division  —  by  which  Republicans  who  hate  thieving,  and 
abhor  military  government,  are  compelled  b}'  whip  and  spur 
to  support  Gen.  Grant  till  1876,  and  re-elect  him,  or  (just  as 
bad)  the  party  he  has  spoiled  —  is  an  artificial  one,  no  less 
than  that  which  keeps  up  the  old  Democratic  war-cr}'  in 
New  Hampshire  and  elsewhere.  Why  not  extend  a  decent 
degree  of  confidence  to  the  Democratic  part}',  and  come  to 
some  sure  result  at  once  ?  If  we  don't  do  this,  we  ought  at 
once  to  try  and  make  a  new  party,  even  at  the  risk  of  another 
failure  like  that  of  1872. 

The  Irish  fellow-citizen  is  apt  to  observe,  in  his  mind's  eye, 
a  vista  of  soup-kettles  and  porringers  opening  before  him 
every  time  the  figures  show  a  Democratic  victory ;  or,  if  he 
does  not  intuitively  see  it,  the  ward  politician  is  sure  to  re- 
mind him  of  it.  Of  course  the  papers,  the  day  after  election, 
said  that  rum  was  to  flow  like  water  by  the  10th  of  January 
at  least.  Mr.  Thompson  of  Gloucester  said  jocosely  in  the 
House,  that  "  the  golden  age  of  New  England  was  when 
they  sold  Medford  rum  for  three  cents  a  glass."  We  were 
also  returning  to  this  era.  Ichabod  Lindsay  of  Charles- 
town  had  a  "  shorter  catechism"  on  the  stump,  which  inva- 
riably carried  the  voters  of  that  patriotic  town.     ''Feller- 


392  ''WARRINGTON:" 

citizens,  what  was  it  that  fit  through  the  Revolution?  I  tell 
you,  rum  did  it!"  And  are  we  not  within  a  jear  of  a 
return  to  Revolutionary  times,  or  at  least  within  a  ^ear  of 
the  time  when  we  ought  to  refresh  ourselves  at  the  original 
fountain  of  inspiration?  The  Boston  Democrat  rules  his 
party,  or  has  hitherto  ruled  it ;  (it  is  so  much  easier  to 
carry  a  ward  with  money  and  whiskey-  than  a  town  or  county 
by  reason  and  common  sense  !)  and,  up  at  least  to  1868,  the 
leader  found  his  best  hold  in  politics  to  be,  selling  himself 
out  to  the  local  Republican  leader. 

The  Democratic  voter  does  not  know  whether  his  local 
leader  be  one  thing  or  the  other.  The  Democrat  who  lives 
out  of  Boston  is  also  somewhat  "hide-bound."  The  party 
won  its  victories  in  1874  by  putting  up  young  men  like 
Thompson  and  Tarbox  and  Warren ;  but  the  old  fogies  had 
to  be  accommodated  also.  I  believe  even  Isaac  Davis  had 
an  opportunit}'  to  decline  something  or  other.  Such  men 
never  fall  out  of  the  procession,  even  though  it  lead  through 
endless  splashings  to  an  empty  table.  They  are  sure  to  be 
jealous  of  young  men,  especially  if  such  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  victory  in  other  organizations. 

Now,  not  once  in  a  quarter  of  a  centur}',  it  seems  to  me, 
will  a  better  opportunity-  occur  to  establish  a  strong  state 
and  national  party.  The  Democrats  are  now  strong,  mainl}- 
because  their  enemies,  like  their  only  leader.  Grant,  have 
lost  the  confidence  of  the  voters.  Probabl}-  they  will  never 
win  back  this  confidence ;  and  the  election  will  fall  into 
Democratic  hands,  subject,  of  course,  to  bayonet-rule  and 
the  throwing  out  of  votes.  But  they  may,  for  all  this. 
The  Democratic  part}'  must  wag,  or  be  wagged  hy  the  old 
rebel  element ;  and  it  will  all  depend  on  this.  I  think  that 
the  anti-Grant  Republicans  ought  to  support  the  Democratic 
candidates  henceforth,  whenever  they  have  proved,  or  are 
likel}'  to  prove,  good  officers,  or  are  nominated  under  good 
auspices,  because  Grant's  defeat  is  indispensable  to  respec- 
table government  in  the  country  hereafter.  The  logical 
position  of  the  honest  Republican,  be  he  voter  or  leader,  is 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  393 

such  as  to  lead  him  nowhere  else ;  and,  tread  he  never  so 
Tvarily,  he  will  bring  up  there  in  1876.  The  j-ear  seems  to 
be  a  grand  climacteric  for  the  Republican  party ;  and  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  longevity  of  such  organizations  was 
diminishing,  or  as  if  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  so  undermined 
the  moral  constitution  of  the  late  dominant  party,  that  it 
cannot  live  any  longer.  The  ousted  members  who  fell  vic- 
tims to  the  popular  rage  will  be  provided  for  b}'  Grant,  in 
some  way  or  other,  in  pay  for  their  votes  for  grabs  and 
force-bills. 

No  Republican,  strait-laced  or  liberal,  denies  the  bad 
character  and  record  of  the  Democratic  party  during  the  war 
and  the  reconstruction  period ;  and  no  one,  if  tolerably 
candid,  can  deny,  that  here  in  Massachusetts  at  least,  and 
in  other  States,  it  is  disposed  to  be  better  now.  Here  it 
supported  Mr.  Gaston,  and  Mr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Monroe 
("  Templeton  "),  and,  last  3'ear,  Mr.  Thompson,  Mr.  Tar- 
box,  Mr.  Chapin,  and  Mr.  Warren.  On  the  other  hand, 
nobody  can  deny  that  the  Republican  administration  at 
AVashington  has  been,  in  respectabilit}-,  running  behind- 
hand. Proof  enough  exists  of  this  in  the  \exy  general  com- 
plaint of  the  Republican  press  for  the  last  three  years,  and 
in  its  demand  that  Gen.  Grant  shall  be  put  on  the  retired 
list. 

Some  good  results  have  ensued  from  these  attempts  to 
reform  "  inside  of  the  party:  "  for  instance,  it  may  be  rea- 
sonably hoped  that  the  Republican  inflationists  and  force- 
bill  men  will  be  more  moderate.  But,  the  more  nearl}-  the 
Republican  and  Democratic  voters  have  approached  each 
other,  the  more  persistent  have  been  the  efforts  to  keep 
them  apart,  —  b}'  party  drill,  by  the  bringing  in  of  new 
"  issues,"  and  the  exaggeration  of  old  ones.  The  union  and 
combination  most  dreaded  is  that  of  the  respectable  men  with 
each  other.  And  it  was  so  on  the  Southern  as  well  as  on 
financial  and  administrative  questions.  An  "  everlasting 
no"  was  interposed  whenever  the  men  who  thought  alike 
showed  a  disposition  to  act  together. 


394  "WARRINGTON:" 

The  foolish  old  Bourbons  of  Ohio,^  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  additional  votes  in  certain  parts  of  the  State,  put  an 
"  inflation-plank  "  into  their  platform  ;  but  it  attracted  little 
or  no  observation,  and  would  have  had  little  or  no  influence 
on  congress  or  the  country,  had  not  the  ultra  Eepnblicans, 
more  especially  the  Grant  men,  accepted  what  was  called  the 
issue,  and  persuaded  Carl  Scliurz  to  involve  himself  in  it. 

"You  cannot  eat  3-our  cake  and  have  it"  is  the  lesson 
Carl  Schurz  is  taught.  He  has  not  crushed  out  inflation ; 
but  he  has  secured  the  Republican  candidacy  of  the  Presi- 
dent. So  much  for  being  the  ablest  of  the  doctrinaires^  and 
most  persuasive  of  orators,  without  any  comprehension  of 
liow  parties  work  in  the  United  States.  The  inference,  I 
think,  is,  that  the  continued  fight  between  names  is  acquiesced 

1  As  to  Ohio,  there  is  so  much  to  be  said,  and  yet  there  is  so  little 
real  significance  to  it,  that  I  will  not  meddle  witli  it.  I  mean  by  this, 
that  one  theory  as  to  the  effect  of  the  election  is  about  as  good  as 
another.  The  vote  is  evidently  very  close.  It  seems  clear  just  now 
that  the  only  ones  who  have  made  any  thing  out  of  Hayes's  election 
are  Grant,  Carl  Schurz,  and  Sam  Tilden,  —  the  Liberal  Republican 
and  the  New- York  Democrat.  Inflation  cannot  be  an  issue  in  1870. 
The  issue  must  be  general:  all  our  presidential  issues  have  been  since 
1800,  or  Jefferson's  day,  when  the  government  really  started  off  on  the 
Democratic  basis,  or  a  mixture  of  English  constitution  and  French 
democracy.  An  accidental  fight  with  Biddle  helped  Jackson;  but  he 
would  have  won  on  other  issues.  I  do  not  see  how  two  parties  can 
make  an  issue,  unless  both  are  agreed.  The  Republicans  made  the 
issue  in  Ohio:  the  clap-trap  in  the  Ohio  Democratic  platform  was  to 
catch  the  minority.  The  Republicans  seized  hold  of  it,  —  for  Grant,  in 
the  first  place;  or  to  get  money  out  of  the  citizens  to  elect  him,  in  the 
second  place.  You  will  not  hear  much  of  it  next  year,  except  by  way 
of  crimination,  or  recrimination,  wherever  one  or  the  other  doctrine  is 
I)opular,  or  the  reverse.  The  people  know  little  about  it;  and  there  is 
really  no  law  (or  no  known  law)  concerning  it.  The  question  of  resump- 
tion seems  to  me  different:  this  is  based  on  moral  principles,  in  some 
degree;  and  on  this  the  Republican  record  is  as  bad  as  possible.  The 
law  of  Congress  is  simply  the  reply,  "  Call  to-morrow,  and  I  will  then 
tell  you  lolicn  to  call  again."  A  law  to  resume  in  '79,  which  may  be 
repealed  or  suspended  or  postponed,  is  an  absurdity.  I  am  an  imme- 
diate resumirtionist,  and  also  an  anti-inflationist;  but  on  this  last  I  am 
obliged  to  say  that  I  have  to  pin  my  opinions  to  those  who  seem  to  me 
to  know  the  most.  This  is  a  good  rule,  I  suppose.  —W.  S.  R.  (in  letter), 
1875. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  395 

in  with  extreme  reluctance.  There  used  to  be  a  way  of 
making  new  parties ;  but  tlie  task  seems  now  ahnost  hope- 
less ;  and,  the  less  of  principle  there  is  to  fight  over,  the 
more  determined  the  holders  and  seekers  of  office  are  to 
keep  principles  out  of  the  contest.  When  the  Democratic 
party  learns  to  mix  its  politics,  as  Opie  did  his  colors,  "  with 
brains,"  it  will  win.  Meanwhile,  also,  the  discouragement 
of  filibustering  and  bargain  and  sale  in  city  politics  will  do 
it  no  harm.  It  is  an  obscure  remark,  perhaps,  to  say  that 
it  will  not  win  till  it  has  a  chance  to  win  :  but  I  mean  that  it 
is  necessary  for  the  party  to  consolidate  itself,  by  a  de- 
termination to  purge  itself  of  loafers,  Butler  Clubs,  Inde- 
pendent Clubs,  and  bummers  generally,  before  it  can  do 
much ;  and  it  needs  a  leader  and  a  State  Committee  who 
will  compel  it  to  do  so  with  a  strong  hand. 

Mr.  Beard  managed  the  campaign  very  well ;  yet  no  friend 
of  his  can  advise  him  to  keep  in  the  business.  Neither  he, 
nor  a  hundred  other  men  just  as  efficient,  can  keep  the 
Republican  part}-,  as  such,  long  together,  or  long  in  the 
majorit}'.  In  1877  he  Avill  not  like  to  be  forced  to  set  about 
resuscitating  the  Republican  part}'  as  such,  and  b}'  that  time 
will  have  had  no  more  than  the  j'ear's  rest  he  needs.  The 
same  remark  will  appl}'  to  George  F.  Hoar,  Henry  L.  Pierce, 
and  a  good  many  others. 

At  the  Schurz  dinner,  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams,  jun.,  said,  "  We 
are  Republicans  to-da}',  with  Blaine  in  New  England,  and 
with  Chamberlain  in  South  Carolina  ;  Democrats  to-morrow, 
with  Tilden  in  Albau}-,  and  with  Bayard  in  Delaware." 
"The  News"  thinks  that  Mr.  Blaine  is  "  a  pronounced 
nationalist ;  "  while  Tilden  and  Bayard,  especially  the  Dela- 
ware senator,  hold  "•extreme  State-rights  theories,  pushing 
them  to  a  line  verj'  little  short  of  the  secession  doctrine, 
which  was  the  pith  and  marrow  of  the  late  war  so  far  as 
the  South  was  concerned."  I  do  not  suppose,  however, 
that  Mr.  Adams  had  in  his  mind,  when  speaking  of  Tilden 
and  Blaine,  their  views  on  nationalism,  or  its  opposite.  He 
was  thinking  of  them,  if  at  all,  as  upright  and  able  adminis- 


396  "WARRINGTON:" 

trators  of  the  affairs  of  government.  Now  that  slavery  is 
out  of  the  way,  I  suspect  that  it  will  be  utterh'  impossible 
for  either  party  to  excite  popular  feeling  on  the  Fourteenth 
and  Fifteenth  Amendments,  at  least  so  far  as  slavery  is  con- 
cerned, or  questions  connected  with  slavery,  I  hope  so,  at 
any  rate.  If  we  are  able  to  maintain  the  Thirteenth  Amend- 
ment, prohibiting  slavery,  under  the  present  court,  as  Grant 
is  likeh"  to  leave  it,  we  shall  do  well.  The  court  is  drifting 
hither  and  yonder  on  questions  of  citizenship  and  recon- 
struction ;  so  that,  perhaps,  only  the  vagueness  and  incohe- 
rence of  its  dicta  can  save  any  thing  at  all  on  the  questions 
of  citizenship  and  suffrage  to  white  or  black  in  the  South. 
A  pronounced  nationalist,  like  Blaine  or  Chamberlain,  must, 
besides,  be  preferable  to  such  State-rights  men  as  Tilden,  or 
even  Baj'ard,  if  nationalism  means  the  government  wa}-  of 
settling  such  troubles  as  those  of  Louisiana. 

I  tried  to  caricature  or  satirize  the  Grant  process  in  this 
State,  before  it  was  made  perfect,  b}'  a  legal  opinion  signed 
b}'  Justinian  Petigru  ;  but  his  legal  opinion  was  the  actual, 
literal,  word-for-word  interpretation  which  the  administra- 
tion and  the  Republican  Congress  gave  to  the  powers  of 
Congress  afterward.  The  provision  that  the  United  States 
shall  guarantee  to  every  State  a  Republican  form  of  govern- 
ment has  been  held  to  mean  to  guarantee  Republican  admin- 
istration in  Louisiana,  with  W.  P.  Kellogg  as  its  chief;  and 
]Mi\  G.  F.  Hoar's  compromise,  in  this  respect,  is  as  bad  as 
any  part  of  the  process. .  If  this  is  pronounced  nationalism,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  hear  that  Mr.  Blaine  is  against  it,  or  that 
there  is  an^-  remed}'  for  it  in  Tilden  or  Bayard.  We  can 
have  nothing  worse,  except  slaverj-  itself;  and,  for  one,  I  am 
ready  to  run  the  risk  of  the  revival  of  the  most  ultra  of 
Mr.  Calhoun's  theories,  rather  than  the  practical  application 
of  the  cure  of  Drs.  Hoar  and  De  Trobriand. 

THE  COMIXG  KEFORM  PARTY. 

Pennsylvania  politics  receive  much  attention  here  from  the 
quasi-independent  Republican  voter ;  and  the  Union  League 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  397 

of  Philadelphia  seems  to  be  composed  of  some  very  fair 
specimens  of  that  variety  of  politician.  Wh}'  don't  it  show 
its  independence  by  formally'  and  explicitly  abandoning  the 
party?  It  says  just  this,  "  Republicans,  we  are  with  you 
for  the  time  being :  you  cannot  drive  us  off,  nor  coax  us  to 
go  off.  If  you  take  our  ground,  we  remain  still  longer ;  if 
not,  we  will  take  measures  to  consult  about  going."  The 
Grant  man  has  a  sufficient  reply  to  this:  ""We  listened  to 
3'ou,  0  Republican  league !  last  year,  and  declared  against 
the  third  term  for  Grant.  The  election  came,  and  the 
Democrats  carried  the  State.  Why  should  we  follow  ^-our 
advice  again?  "  The  Democrat  says,  "You  have  forfeited 
all  your  pledges  ;  3-ou  have  misconducted  all  over  the  South  ; 
under  Grant's  lead,  you  are  changing  the  whole  character  of 
the  government.  If  we  help  3-ou  to  beat  youi*  own  party  on 
the  new  issues,  j'ou  give  us  no  hope,  that,  next  year,  you 
will  give  us  your  confidence  any  more  than  you  do  now  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  we  help  you  now,  yoxx  give  us  to 
understand  that  —  Grant  being  out  of  the  way  —  you  will  go 
on  with  your  old  rotten  and  demoralized  part}',  and  we  — 
having  in  the  mean  while  demoralized  ourselves  —  shall  be  at 
j-our  mercy  till  1880.  Thank  yon,  no !  "We  will  not  even 
consider  your  terms,  until  you  make  your  position  satisfac- 
tory." The  Democratic  party  is  not  responsible  for  this 
dead-lock.  Ten  chances  to  one,  it  will  be  victorious  any 
wa}',  and  will  sweep  off  Grant,  and  the  part}-  his  system  has 
debauched.  We  have  no  right  to  ask  the  Democrats  to  yield  j 
and,  for  one,  I  hope  they  will  not.  As  things  appear  now, 
the  surest  road  to  reform  is  to  aid  the  part}'  which  stands  in 
battle-array  on  the  field,  armed  and  officered.  What  if  there 
are  mercenaries  and  rebels  among  them?  Better  this  than 
any  Republican  party  which  is  likely  to  win  a  victory  in 
1876. 

It  is  shameful  that  the  honest  Republicans  have  not  cour- 
age enough  to  take  bold  ground.  Why  is  the  Philadelphia 
League  appealing  to  Republicans  alone  ?  Are  there  not  thou- 
sands of  honest  Democrats  in  Philadelphia  ?    Let  the  league 


398  "WAERINGTON:" 

say  to  them,  "  Come  to  us,  not  as  Republicans,  but  as 
reformers.  Let  us,  at  least,  set  an  example  of  courage." 
Here  is  a  chance  for  Hamilton  Hall,  Commonwealth  Club, 
and  hundreds  of  other  men.  Pall  down  your  repellent  flag, 
and  tear  off  j'our  repellent  badges.  Come  in  here,  or  throw 
open  your  own  doors,  no  matter  which :  neither  of  us, 
probabl}',  can  beat,  or  at  least  found  a  part}'  of  permanence 
alone.  Let  us  go  together.  If  you  can  give  us  honest  men 
for  re-election,  we  will  support  them ;  for  new  nominations, 
we  will  make  them  jointly,  and  on  fair  terms,  or  no  terms, 
except  opposition  to  bad  politics  and  bad  men. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  partisan  does  not  lose  an 
hour's  sleep  over  the  question,  which  is  to  beat  in  1876 :  it 
is  all  one  to  him.  "  Hand3--dandy,  which  is  the  justice,  and 
which  is  the  thief?"  It  is  the  resumption  of  political  issues, 
governmental  questions  of  some  sort,  he  is  opposed  to.  He 
can  get  an  office  under  the  rotten  Republicans,  or  the  hide- 
bound Democrats, — one  just  us  easih'  as  the  other.  He  is 
not  to  blame  in  any  sense.  If  New-Hampshire  usurpation 
were  ten  times  as  bad  as  it  is  supposed,  it  could  not  be 
worse  than  Louisiana :  Democratic  theft,  multipty  it  ten- 
fold, is  outdone  by  the  whiskej'-ring.  Neither  party  gives 
the  3'oung  radical  and  the  sincere  reformer  any  chance.  K 
he  proposes  anj^  reform,  we  say,  "No,  wait  a  j^ear;"  or, 
"Yes;"  and  then  we  cheat  him  as  we  cheated  Curtis  and 
Eaton  on  the  civil-service  reform.  No  wonder  he  gets 
tired.  I  hope  he  has  got  tired  enough  and  disgusted  enough 
for  a  change,  and  a  radical  one  ;  and  if  the  word  put  out,  be 
it  Republican  or  Democrat,  is  too  much  for  him  to  spell,  he 
is  prepared  to  step  down  and  out  gracefully  or  clumsilj',  but 
down  and  out  at  any  rate. 

To  sum  up  the  situation  in  a  sentence,  the  difficulty  is 
in  the  hopeless  mediocrity  of  our  public  life.  If  the  reform- 
ers had  only  co-operated  in  1871,  there  might  have  been  a 
hopeful  contest  then,  and  the  foundation  for  a  revolution. 
These  things  ought  not  to  be  postponed  too  long.  But, 
come  when  they  may,  we  predict,  that,  when  "  The  Inde- 


PEN-PORTRAITfi.  399 

pendent  Journal "  gets  readj*  to  inaugurate  Cincinnati  reform 
operation  in  Massachusetts  for  the  overthrow  of  the  "rings," 
it  will  find  Gen.  Butler  on  hand  to  furnish  assistance, 
CA'cn  to  the  extent  of  maldng  himself  the  "  independent" 
candidate  on  the  "  reform  "  platform.  Then  tlie  millennium 
of  reconciliation  will  come.  Then  all  estrangements  will 
be  harmonized.  Then  will  there  be  a  restoration  of  good 
relations  between  senators.  Then  will  the  A'acant  seats  in 
the  Bird  Club  be  no  longer  vacant.  Then  will  happen  vari- 
ous other  nice  things. 

"Happy  days, 
KoU  onward,  leading  up  the  golden  year." 


400  "WAERIIfGTOIf: 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

FREE-SOIL  LEADERS. 

THE   OLD   FREE-SOIL   LEADERS   AND   THEIR   WORK.^ 

I  SAID  in  mj'  last  ^  that  Wilson  received  about  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  votes  for  senator  in  the  House  in  1855. 
This  is  a  misleading  fact,  as  the  House  then  consisted  of 
three  hundred  and  eighty,  whereas  now  it  has  only  two  hun- 
dred and  forty.  I  think  the  popular  feeling  of  sorrow  for 
Gen.  Wilson's  decease  lasts  longer  than  such  feeling  gen- 
erally does  for  eminent  men.  He  was  so  universally  known, 
that  this  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise.  An  Irishman  at  North- 
ampton described  O'Connell  to  me  as  a  "  big-complexioned  " 
man.  Wilson  was  not  this  ;  nor  was  he,  like  Sumner  or  Web- 
ster, striking  for  height  or  port :  but  he  was  known  to  ever}'- 
bod3^     Sumner  was  always  picturesquely  dressed  also,  not 

"  Lax  in  his  gaiters,  laxer  in  his  gait; " 

and  Webster  had  a  grandeur  of  tread  and  appearance  which 
overawed  State  Street,  and  shook  its  pockets  apart  when  he 
came  near. 

Sumner  had  great  satisfaction  after  he  came  from  Nahant 
to  Boston  in  1873  ;  for  after  Grant  had  received  the  vote  of 
the  State,  and  by  seventy  thousand  majority  or  more,  in 
1872,  the  senator  had  a  notion  that  he  would  be  odious  to 
Boston  for  having  given  advice  so  unpalatable.  But,  when 
he  found  himself  as  popular  as  ever,  —  looked  at,  as  of  old, 

1  From  "Warrington's"  last  letters  in  the  Springfield  Republican, 
December,  1875,  and  January,  1876. 

2  See  Henry  Wilson  (Brief  Biographies). 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  401 

and,  before  he  left  for  "Washington,  welcomed  at  the  political, 
literary-,  and  social  clubs,  —  he  was  delighted  as  apparentl}' 
never  before.  He  was  elected  an  honorarj-  member  of  that 
queer  guild,  the  "Banks  Club,"  and  made  a  speech  there 
with  tremendous  cheering,  —  a  dinner-speech  wortliy  of  the 
dining  and  the  company ;  good,  in  its  wa}-,  as  Mr.  Emer- 
son's speech  at  the  Robert  Burns  Centennial. 

It  is  well  to  have  people  paint  their  heroes  prettj-  much  as 
they  were ;  but  "Wilson,  in  1840,  was  not  so  much  incapable 
of  writing  ungrammaticall}-  as  of  spelling  and  dividing  cor- 
recth'.  But  the  general  truth  held  good  with  him,  that  the 
man  who  thinlis  correctly'  will  learn  to  speak  and  write  with 
tolerable  accuracy.  His  rhetoric  was  often  better  than 
Sumner's.  Something  has  been  said  about  Wilson's  running 
for  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington  in  1852,  or 
early  in  1853.  His  Whig  opponent  was  Hon.  Tappan  Went- 
wortli  of  Lowell.  Butler  was  also  running  as  a  Democrat ; 
and  there  was  a  bona  fide  attempt  to  adjust  the  support  so  as 
to  let  Wilson  defeat  Wentworth  without  committing  Butler 
and  his  party  too  far.  The  matter  was  the  subject  of  fre- 
quent consultations  ;  but  the  figures  did  not  come  out  right. 
Wentworth  beat  Wilson  by  a  hundred  votes  or  so,  and  went 
to  "Washington  for  one  term ;  voted  against  the  Nebraska 
Bill,  and  spoke  against  it;  and  was  succeeded  by  C.  L. 
Knapp,  the  Know-Nothing  candidate,  in  1854. 

By  extraordinarj-  good  luck,  the  people  had  ordered  the 
Constitutional  Convention  to  be  held  ;  and  it  gave  "Wilson  and 
Banks  "  visible  means  of  support  "  during  the  most  of  the 
^•ear  1853,  —  a  ver}-  interesting  3'ear  of  constitutional  dis- 
cussion. In  the  convention  appeared  Sumner,  Wilson, 
Allen,  and  Dana ;  Boutwell,  Banks,  Hallett,  and  Butler ; 
Choate,  Dawes,  Hillard,  and  Stevenson ;  Simon  Greenleaf, 
Joel  Parker,  Sidney  Bartlett,  and  Joel  Giles  ;  Morton  (sen- 
ior and  junior),  liriggs,  Bishop,  Rockwell,  and  Increase 
Sumner  from  Berkshire  County  (worthy,  as  the  agiicultural 
orator  from  Dalton  said,  of  the  immortal  statesman  whose 
name  it  bears,  —  i.e.,  Burke)  ;  Bird,  Train,  J.  G.  Abbott, 


4  02  "  WARBINGTON: " 

and  Talbot  (not  yet  done  with  politics)  ;  Lord,  Crownin- 
sbield,  Upton,  and  Aldrich ;  Griswold,  Alvord,  and  Burlln- 
.game ;  C.  W.  Chapin  and  Heniy  Chapin ;  Isaac  Davis, 
Artemus  Hale,  Jacob  Bigelow,  and  John  C.  Graj' ;  two 
Hnntingtons  and  Hubbard  ;  Earle  Knowlton,  Nathan  Hale, 
Hazewell,  Kej^es,  Gonrgas,  and  Frothiugham  (journalists)  ; 
"Walcott,  Porkins,  and  Peleg  Sprague ;  Alle}'  and  Gooch ; 
Cushman,  II.  K.  Oliver,  and  ^Y.  C.  Plunkett ;  C.  B.  Hall, 
Amasa  Walker,  and  DeWitt ;  Blagden  and  Lothrop  ;  Beach 
and  Whitney ;  George  More}'  and  F.  Brinley ;  William  B. 
Greene,  labor  reformer ;  Hev.  George  Putnam,  Sampson 
Reed,  J.  M.  Churchill,  and  George  White ;  and  so  on,  with 
no  disparagement  to  plenty  of  others. 

Wilson  created,  or  helped  to  create,  rotten  boroughs  for 
some  of  the  Free-Soilers  and  Democrats  ;  and  Dana  sat  for 
Manchester,  Sumner  for  Marshfield,  Burlingame  for  North- 
borough,  Ilallett  for  Wilbraham,  Boutwell  for  Berlin,  Gris- 
wold fcr  Erving,  Alvord  for  Montague,  Ke3-es  for  Abington, 
and  Increase  Sumuer  for  Otis.  Wilson  was  chosen  for 
Natick,  and  also  for  Boston ;  and  Boutwell  was  let  in 
for  Berlin  afterward,  having  been  beaten  unexpected!}'  in 
Groton.  The  "Whigs  did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  law 
which  allowed  this  to  be  done  ;  and  it  would  have  been  as  well 
if  the  coalitionists  had  let  it  alone.  But  Wilson  and  Bout- 
well did  not  feel  quite  sure  of  their  towns.  Hallett  and 
Burlingame  and  Dana  and  Sumner  were  all  in  Whig  places, 
and  with  Whig  constituencies.  The  "leaders"  were  as- 
sailed in  "  The  New- York  Nation,"  a  3'ear  or  two  ago,  for 
maliciously  leaving  out  Mr.  C.  F.  Adams.  Talking  with 
Wilson  about  it,  he  reminded  me  that  Quincy  was  a  "  coali- 
tion town"  b}'  a  large  majorit}',  and  was  expected  to  elect 
Mr.  Adams  ;  but  it  did  not  nominate  him.  It  is  prett}'  apt 
to  treat  its  best  men  rather  capriciousl}'. 

It  is  not  a  good  time  to  make  new  constitutions  ;  for  the 
quack  doctrinaires  are  too  late  from  England  and  their  col- 
leges to  help  make  good  ones,  and  this  one  here  in  Massa- 
chusetts is  very  neaa-ly  right  in  principle.     Possibly',  in  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  403 

centennial  year  of  1880,  it  may  be  wise  to  try  it.  In  the 
Assembl}-  of  1853  Wilson  was  very  active  and  usefnl,  and 
got  as  much  good  as  he  conferred. 

In  looking  up  two  or  three  of  these  facts,  I  find  that  the 
woman  question  came  up  on  petition  of  Abby  B.  Alcott, 
Wendell  Phillips,  T.  W.  Higginson,  and  others  (about  two 
thousand  in  all)  ;  and  was  reported  against  by  Amasa 
Walker,  on  the  ground  that  the  "  consent  of  the  governed  " 
was  shown  b}^  the  small  number  of  petitioners.  They  had 
the  sense  to  strike  out  the  reasoning^  before  adopting  the 
conclusion,  "  inexpedient,"  or  "  leave  to  withdraw."  E.  L. 
Keyes,  representing  Abington,  seems  to  have  been  the  suf- 
frage champion. 

Let  me  catch  up  one  or  two  more  threads  concerning  the 
old  leaders  of  the  Free-Soil  part}'  b^'  accounting  for  E.  R. 
Hoar's  absence  frpm  convention  by  his  judgeship  in  1853. 
At  this  time  Stephen  C.  Phillips  was  dead,  having  been 
lost  b}-  the  burning  of  a  steamer  on  the  St.  Lawrence  about 
1852.  Robert  Rantoul,  jun.,  who  was  in  a  transition  state 
at  this  time,  died  in  1852.  Palfrc}',  on  whom  the  fight 
hinged  in  Congress  in  184G  and  1848,  appears  not  to  have 
been  a  candidate  ;  nor  was  Erastus  Hopkins.  S.  G.  Howe 
was  no  doubt  too  busj*  and  too  useful  elsewhere.  The  same 
maj'  also  be  said  of  Andrew,  who  was  not,  however,  promi- 
nent in  our  politics  as  carl}'  even  as  1853. 

And,  now  that  I  have  got  over  the  line  of  the  convention, 
let  me  go  on  and  mention,  as  among  the  old  Free-Soil 
leaders,  Estes  Howe,  James  M.  Stone,  Joseph  T.  Bucking- 
ham, George  F.  Farley,  John  W.  Graves,  Henry  L.  Pierce, 
Edward  L.  Pierce,  Stephen  H.  and  Willard  C.  Phillips  (sons 
of  Stephen  C),  and  J.  Q.  A.  GrifBn,  G.  L.  Streeter  of  Salem, 
Anthon}'  of  New  Bedford,  and  IL  S.  Geer  of  Xorthampton. 
The  last  three  were  journalists,  and,  I  think,  abandoned  the 
Whigs  on  Taylor's  nomination.  Mr.  Buckingham  was  get- 
ting old ;   and   so  was   Mr.   Farley,  —  a  very  able   lawyer, 

1  The  reasoniug  was  struck  out,  108  to  44. 


404  ''WARRINGTON:" 

immortal  from  having  been  the  man  of  all  others  to  pound 
Butler  into  silence.  Nearly  all  were  Whigs,  or  of  the  "Whig 
school ;  though  J.  M.  Stone  was  a  Democrat,  and  the  Pierces 
were  of  that  school  (sons  of  Jesse  Pierce  of  Stoughton,  an 
old  Jeffersonian) . 

Gerrit  Smith  did  not  often  come  to  Boston,  I  think ;  but 
I  remember  his  lecturing  here  once.  He  was  of  large 
"build,"  like  Sumner  and  Chase,  and  unlike  Seward,  who 
also  was  a  less  frequent  visitor  here  than  Chase.  Mr.  Chase 
seems  to  me  to  have  been  one  of  the  handsomest  of  men. 
During  the  war,  once  in  a  while,  Seward  came  to  Boston. 
As  he  went  briskly  up  the  steps  of  the  State-House  stairs  to 
Gov.  Andrew's  room,  he  seemed  a  very  common  man.  The 
people  would  not  have  stopped  in  the  street  to  look  at  him  as 
the}'  did  at  Sumner  and  Chase,  and  even  at  some  more  small 
in  stature,  like  John  Quinc}'  Adams  ;  and  as  thej'  do,  for  that 
matter,  at  Charles  Francis  Adams,  who,  for  a  small-sized 
man,  has  quite  a  remarkable  port  and  appearance.  There 
must  be  something,  but  not  every  thing,  in  size.  Daniel 
"Webster  and  John  Quiucy  Adams  seemed  to  me,  on  the 
grandest  occasions  on  which  I  saw  them,  to  be  of  about  equal 
altitude.  I  saw  Mr.  Adams  ever}*  da}'  dui'ing  the  contest  with 
Henry  A.  "Wise,  Tom  Marshall,  and  the  slaveholders,  in  1842  ; 
heard  him  charge  "Wise  with  coming  into  the  House  with 
his  hands  dripping  with  blood,  —  alluding  to  the  Cilley  duel ; 
and  I  remember  "Wise's  absolutely  ghostlike  face,  as  he  stood 
appalled,  and  as  if  he  had  been  shot  through  the  body,  and 
was  waiting  to  fall  to  the  floor. 

Webster  was  a  familiar  sight  to  all  of  us.  As  he  walked 
down  State  Street,  or  up  the  aisle  to  the  platform  in  Fan- 
cuil  Hall,  he  was  an  object  of  wonder  and  admiration,  — 
though  (for  instance,  when  he  was  brought  in  to  put  down 
the  Conscience  Whig  rebellion,  in  the  Whig  convention) 
not  so  much  the  latter  as  the  former.  At  this  time,  I  believe 
Webster  was  at  heart  with  the  antislaver}'  wing  of  the  party. 
We  should  have  carried  the  day,  with  Stephen  C.  Phillips, 
Palfre}-,  Sumner,  C.  F.  Adams,  Wilson,  Allen,  audE.  R.  Hoar, 


:^' 


i 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  405 

if  Webster  had  not  interposed.  I  refer  now  to  almost  any  of 
the  3'ears  from  1845  to  1848,  and  do  not  remember  the  partic- 
ular time  he  was  brought  into  Faneuil  Hall  to  put  down  the 
"  conscience  "  men.  At  Springfield  the  task  was  committed 
to  Ashmun,  Winthrop,  and  William  Dwight.  J.  Thomas 
Stevenson,  after  all,  was  as  greatl}"  feai'ed  as  anyljodj' 
excepting  Webster.  It  was  at  Faneuil  Hall,  I  think,  that, 
after  the  day  had  gone  against  us,  he  came  in,  as  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  resolutions,  and  read  them  so  magnificently, 
that  we  began  to  think,  for  the  moment,  that  we  had  got  all 
we  wanted,  and  had  been  rcallj-  guilt}-  of  boys'  play  in  ask- 
ing for  more.  By  and  b}-,  however,  Webster  went  over,  on 
the  7th  of  March,  1850,  astounding  friend  and  enem}'  alike. 

Gen.  Wilson  related  how,  on  one  daj-  after  this,  he,  with 
Boutwell  and  Banks,  walked  round  Boston  Common  ;  how 
he  for  one  pronounced  for  war  against  Webster,  if  the  Whigs 
did  not  themselves  renounce  him  ;  and  how,  as  he  believes, 
♦he  plan  of  the  coalition  was  first  suggested.  Banks  inquired 
of  him  with  emphasis  if  he  was  fool  enough  to  suppose  that 
the  Whigs  could  or  would  break  with  Webster ;  and  Boutwell 
was,  as  usual,  rather  reticent  and  doubtful  on  the  subject. 
After  this  the  coalition  developed  itself  rapidl}',  the  Free- 
Soil  party  everj'where  proclaiming  its  purpose  to  be  to  obtain 
an  antislaverj'  senator  in  Webster's  place  ;  and  they  got  him 
in  Charles  Sumner. 


406  ''WAERINGTON'" 


CHAPTER  XV. 

BRIEF  BIOGRAPHIES. 

JOHN   A.    ANDREW. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  events  in  histoiy  was  Gov. 
Andrew's  famous  letter  to  the  secretary  of  war,  in  which  he 
said,  substantiall}',  that  Massachusetts  men  were  reluctant 
to  enlist  because  the  negi-o  had  not  been  called  upon.  This 
must  have  been  as  earl}-  as  May,  1862,  seven  or  eight  months 
before  the  emancipation  decree  ;  for  I  remember  that  it  was 
made  one  of  the  grounds  of  complaint  against  Gov.  Andrew 
hy  the  Joel  Parker  part}-  in  the  fall  of  that  j-ear.  ' '  A  con- 
ditional patriotism  !  "  said  the}- :  "  Massachusetts  patriotism 
is  not  conditional !  And  she  wants  no  conditional  patriot 
for  a  governor:  so  down  with  John  A.  Andrew!"  Ex- 
Maj'or  AVightman  was  especially  indignant,  and  sent  on 
word  to  Washington  that  Massachusetts  would  furnish  all 
the  soldiers  required,  whether  the  negroes  were  called  on  or 
not ;  and  we  had  as  hard  work  to  elect  John  A.  Andrew  in 
1862  as  Col.  Bullock  in  1867,  and  succeeded  b}-  a  majority 
somewhat  less  than  that  which  the  latter  received  in  1868. 

With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Sumner,  Gov.  Andrew  was  the 
best  abused  man  in  Massachusetts  bj^  the  hunkerism  of  Bos- 
ton at  this  time.  I  have  heard  Gov.  Andrew  sa}'  that  Lewis 
Hayden  suggested  to  him  that  slaves  ought  to  be  "  coutra- 
band  of  war,"  and  that  this  was  before  that  title  was  applied 
to  them  b}-  Gen.  Butler.  But  it  is  impossible  to  fix  the 
priority  of  this  idea,  which  was  likely  to  suggest  itself  to 
many  people  about  the  same  time.    As  for  arming  the  slaves, 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  407 

that  idea,  too,  occurred  to  thousands  of  people,  simultane- 
ously, as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out.  Wh}',  I  recollect  some 
resolutions  introduced  into  our  House  of  Representatives  by 
Mr.  Durfee  of  New  Bedford,  and  supported  b}'  Mr.  Pierce  of 
Dorchester,  and  others,  as  earl}-  as  Ma}',  1861,  calling  upon 
government  to  avail  itself  of  the  services  of  the  black  men. 
They  Avere  onl}'  defeated  b}'  about  half  a  dozen  votes. 

In  the  spring  of  18G1,  Caleb  Gushing  offered  his  services  to 
the  government  in  a  militarv  capacit}- ;  but  Gov,  Andrew  in 
a  ver}-  emphatic  manner  declined  them,  expressly  on  political 
grounds ;  and,  when  the  attempt  was  afterwards  made  to 
give  him  a  brigadier's  commission,  the  opposition  came  from 
Andrew,  who,  in  this  matter  as  well  as  in  others,  came  into 
conflict  with  Gen.  Butler.  Our  two  senators,  Sumner  and 
Wilson,  at  this  time,  were  willing  to  have  Gen.  Gushing 
commissioned.^ 

The  attachment  of  Boston  merchants  and  business-men  to 
the  ex-governor  was  genuine  and  hearty.  It  was  based 
partly  on  his  recognition,  during  the  war,  of  the  claims  of 
famil}'  and  college,  and  the  Brahmin  blood  (and  some  blood 

1  As  the  relations  of  Gen.  Cashing  to  the  State  Government  have 
become  matter  of  notoriety,  it  may  be  well  to  state  the  actual  facts 
of  the  case.  Soon  after  Cushing's  return  from  the  South,  Gov.  Andrew 
received  two  letters  from  him.  One  contained  a  formal  tender  of  his 
services  to  the  State  in  any  civil  or  military  capacity  in  which  tliey 
might  be  desired:  the  other  was  pi-ivate;.but  I  understand  it  referred 
to  the  friendly  terms  wliich  had  existed  in  the  le.scislature  and  elsewhere 
between  tlie  governor  and  the  writer.  The  governor,  after  due  deliber- 
ation, replied,  that  as  a  man  and  a  magistrate  he  could  not  reconcile  it 
to  his  sense  of  duty  to  intrust  important  public  interests  to  a  man  who. 
liad  for  so  long  a  time,  and  up  to  so  recent  a  date,  been  known  to  be  the 
intimate  friend  and  upliolder  of  the  leading  spirits  of  the  Itebellion. 
Acknowledging  in  i)roper  spirit  the  friendliness  of  Gen.  Gushing's  letter, 
the  governor  said  he  could  not  allow  his  private  feelings  to  influence- 
him  in  an  appointment  which  would  in  his  judgment  ilemorallze,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  the  branch  of  public  service  to  wliich  it  might  be 
attached.  The  letter  was  submitted  to  the  Executive  Council,  and 
approved  by  them.  It  is  not  likely  that  it  will  ever  see  the  light, 
except  througli  Gen.  Cushing's  consent;  but  I  have  given  the  sub-stance 
of  it,  I  have  no  doubt,  with  sufficient  accuracy. — New -York  Tribune, 
May  3,  18G1. 


408  "WARRINGTON:" 

that  was  not  Brahmiuical)  ;  also  on  his  differences  with 
leading  radicals,  and  his  well-known  and  pronounced  opin- 
ions on  public  affairs,  some  of  which,  as  they  are  upon 
record,  are  in  the  line  with  "  conservative  "  opinions  in  Con- 
gi-ess,  and  the  "White  House,  and  the  countrj- ;  and  on  his 
admirable  personal  characteristics,  which  were  such  as  to 
attract  a  class  of  men  like  the  Boston  magnates,  who  must 
have  an  idol  of  some  sort  or  other.  Webster  was  their 
greatest ;  Banks  came  near  being  one  ;  and  Andrew,  when  he 
died,  was  one,  and  it  never  had  a  worthier. 

No  man  ever  excelled  him  in  the  democratic  instinct.  No 
man  ever  had  less  prejudice  against  poverty  or  color ;  indeed, 
he  seemed  to  have  absolutely  none :  and  I  think  the  colored 
people  will  say  that  he  was  far  more  cordial  and  hearty 
towards  them  than  manj^  a  man  more  eminent,  thorough, 
and  theoretical  as  an  abolitionist.  His  synipath}'  for  man 
even  extended  to  man  as  a  criminal,  not  onh'  in  prisons,  but 
out  of  them;  and,  although  victimized  now  and  then,  he 
never  lost  faith  in  human  nature  ;  and  his  humorous  turn 
helped  to  keep  him  from  getting  disappointed  and  soured, 
however  grossl}*  he  might  be  deceived.  He  had  gi'cat  per- 
sonal popularity  ;  and  the  whole  community  regarded  him  as 
a  thoroughl}'  conscientious  and  honest  man,  as  well  as  a 
good  lawyer  and  effective  debater.  He  was  not  a  radical  in 
an  offensive  sense.  He  was  too  much  of  a  lawyer  to  be  a 
rcA'olutionist  or  destructive.  He  had  the  genuine  lawj-er-like 
notion  as  to  the  duty  of  defending  bad  men  when  they  are 
placed  in  peril ;  and,  I  fear,  was  too  much  attached  to  the 
rubbish  and  rust  which  make  the  legal  profession,  as  now 
administered,  a  stumbling-block  and  a  nuisance,  to  be  classed 
as  a  genuine  progressive.  Outside  of  the  law,  however,  he 
was  as  genuine  and  healthv  a  man  as  ever  lived. 

There  are  good  law3'ers  who  agree  with  the  opinion  of 
Gov.  Andrew,  that  E.  W.  Green  was  illegall}-  tried  and  ex- 
ecuted. My  favorite  ballad  (of  which,  however,  I  remember 
only  one  verse,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  any  other) 
celebrates  the  misfortune  of  the  sailor  who  fell  overboard, 
and  met  with  an  unwelcome  host  in  the  cold  water :  — 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  409 

"  They  threw  over  rope  and  tackle, 
Of  saving  him  in  hopes : 
But  the  shark  had  bit  his  head  off ; 
So  he  couldn't  see  the  ropes." 

The  ropes,  you  see,  are  entirel}'  constitutional  means  de- 
signed for  saving  au  innocent  man  ;  but  tliej-  came  too  late 
for  the  poor  mariner.     So  it  was  in  Green's  case  in  1SC6. 

Gov.  Andrew's  statue  seems  to  me  to  be,  on  the  whole,  a 
good  one.  The  most  common  remark  about  it  is,  that  it  ought 
to  be  brought  out  into  the  hall  farther  instead  of  being  cooped 
up  in  a  corner  niche.  The  head  and  face  are  excellent  like- 
nesses, and  the  attitude  and  tread  of  the  figure  are  those  of 
the  ex-governor.  The  cloak  helps  remind  j'ou  of  the  familiar 
figure  ;  and  Ave  need  scarcely  more  than  the  spectacles  pushed 
up  on  the  forehead  to  complete  the  illusion. 

Most  of  the  governors  I  have  known  have  had  a  sidelong 
fondness  for  Boston  wealth.  Gov.  Bullock,  who  knew  it 
best,  seemed  to  have  less  respect  for  it,  and  a  greater  dispo- 
sition to  be  humorous  at  its  expense,  than  the  rest  of  them. 
It  is  a  good  deal  of  a  thing,  no  doubt,  for  a  common  sort  of 
a  man  to  be  invited  into  the  society  of  the  wealth}-,  even  if 
his  hosts  are  not  able  to  contribute  much  more  than  wine  and 
mahogany  to  his  entertainment.  It  was  a  common  complaint 
among  Gov.  Andrew's  early  friends  that  he  was  disposed  to 
think  that  blood  and  famil}*  and  a  college  diploma  stood  for 
sometliing  in  the  way  of  militar}-  abilit}*,  above  the  educa- 
tion of  common  people.  But  I  suppose  the  fact  was.  that 
the  young  bloods,  as  a  general  thing,  were  more  particular 
about  their  rank  than  were  the  sons  of  the  poor  men  ;  and 
the  easiest  waj-  to  get  along,  and  tlio  way  also  to  bring  in 
money  and  influence,  was  to  humor  them  and  'their  rich  rela- 
tions. Certainl}'  no  man  who  ever  lived  here,  and  attained 
high  station,  ever  had  less  regard  for  the  "  accidents"  of  a 
man  than  Andrew.  He  was  greatest,  it  seems  to  me,  as  a 
broad,  liberal,  human,  sj'mpathizing  man,  rather  than  a  states- 
man or  a  governor. 

We  have  boasted  a  great  deal  about  Massachusetts   in 


1 


410  "  WARRING  TON: " 

the  war ;  but  I  don't  thiuk  we  were  in  any  respect  above 
other  loyal  States.  Certainly  our  aflfairs  were  not  managed 
with  extraordinary  financial  skill ;  but  this  was,  of  course, 
mainly  the  fault  of  the  legislature.  Our  volunteering, 
making  allowance  for  the  comparative  scarcitj'  of  available 
men  hero,  was  equal  to  that  of  other  States,  but  not  supe- 
rior. The  State  was  early  in  the  field,  and  lost  its  men 
at  Baltimore  ;  and  this  helped  our  claims  a  little.  The  gov- 
ernor, however,  was  distinguished  in  this,  that  he  was  an 
inspirer  of  other  men.  He  went  often  to  Washington.  His 
magnetism  was  great.  Lincoln  and  Stanton  and  the  gen- 
erals liked  him.  He  could  talk  well  and  write  well.  He 
corresponded  with  all  sorts  of  people.  He  worked  up  ques- 
tions like  that  of  the  employment  of  colored  troops.  He 
met  other  Xorthern  governors,  and,  being  more  of  a  man  in 
expression  and  electricity  than  the  rest,  made  a  greater 
impression  abroad.  He  was  a  preacher,  first  and  last.  He 
would  sit  in  his  chair,  and  dictate  letters  and  speeches  in  his 
sonorous  style,  with  a  delight  in  his  own  composition  which 
was  pardonable,  and  even  verj'  pleasant  to  witness.  He 
Avould  fix  his  auditors,  and  compel  attention  b}'  his  person- 
ality, so  that  they  were  carried  away  by  his  energy  and 
enthusiasm,  and,  if  they  did  not  assent,  did  not,  at  least, 
make  immediate  objection.  He  got  a  habit  of  domineering, 
after  a  while,  which  made  him  some  enemies.  If  the  claims 
of  the  State  were  not  immediatelj^  attended  to  at  Washing- 
ton, he  pitched  into  the  senators  and  representatives,  scolded 
about  Sumner,  sneered  at  Wilson,  damned  Butler,  never 
forgiving  the  "New-England  department"  and  the  otfer  to 
the  governor  of  Marj'land.  He  was  an  excellent  hater  of 
all  men  who  thwarted  or  tried  to  thwart  him. 

But  there  was  no  bound  to  his  sympatliy  for  common  folks. 
He  never  sneered  at  the  unfortunate ;  rather  liked  to  liave 
bailed-out  people  and  pardoned  criminals  about  him ;  had 
immense  faith  in  human  nature ;  would  have  taken  the 
hand  of  slaveholder  and  rebel  as  readil}^  as  of  slave  and 
loyal  volunteer,  and  with  as  great  confidence,  on  the  whole, 


I 


PE2^-P0RTRAITS.  411 

in  the  one  as  in  the  other.  He  graduall}',  and  not  slowlj-, 
came  to  think  himself  greater  than  anybody  else  here,  and 
rather  chafed  at  Wilson's  and  even  Sumner's  superior  posi- 
tion, —  superior  as  being  more  permanent  than  his  own.  As 
earl}-  as  1862  he  was  a  little  cross  because  we  made  the 
Republican  State  Convention  nominate  Sumner  for  re-election 
to  the  Senate ;  and  was  disposed  to  think  he  carried  the 
senator  on  his  shoulders  through  that  campaign,  whereas  he 
no  more  carried  Sumner  than  Sumner  carried  him :  but  both 
went  together,  spite  of  Parker  and  Saltonstall ;  spite  of  the 
clamor  against  the  Altoona  convention  of  lo3'al  governors, 
and  the  senator's  negro  speech  at  Worcester.  I  never  heard 
Mr.  Sumner  express  even  the  smallest  impatience  under  the 
governor's  criticisms,  or  speak  of  Andrew  other  than  with 
affection  and  respect. 

Andrew  was  in  no  sense  a  flabb}-  character.  He  always 
had  an  opinion,  and  never  was  afraid  to  express  or  defend  it, 
though  sometimes  he  might  in  his  public  addresses  A'ield  to 
the  wishes  of  his  friends.  It  is  within  m^'  recollection  that 
in  18G1  or  1862  —  I  am  not  sure  as  to  the  year  —  he  intended 
to  recommend  a  modification  of  the  prohibitory  law ;  and 
even  sent  to  the  printer  a  paragraph  to  that  effect,  to  make 
a  part  of  his  address.  He  probabl}'  thought,  finally,  that  the 
time  had  not  arrived  for  a  fight  with  the  State  alliance  on 
this  question.  Believing  as  I  do  that  it  is  utter  folly  to 
attempt  to  cai-ry  out  the  policy  of  prohibition,  and  that  the 
sooner  the  attempt  is  abandoned,  and  the  attention  of  tem- 
perance men  turned  into  other  channels  of  effort,  the  better, 
I  cannot  help  thinking  that  Gov.  Andrew  never  did  a  greater 
—  as  he  certainl}'  never  did  a  more  heroic  —  act  than  to  rall}^ 
the  opposition  to  that  intolerant,  overbearing  t3'rannv,  which 
under  tlie  lead  of  the  State  alliance,  and  by  the  machinery 
of  secret  societies,  terrified  public  opinion  into  a  formal 
acquiescence  in  the  prohibitory  law  for  so  many  years. 

It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  Gov.  Andrew's  addresses  and 
messages  will  ever  hold  a  high  rank  as  specimens  of  political 
statesmanship.     The  valedictor}-  address  is  a  queer  mixture. 


412  "  WAESmOTOIf: " 

It  is  impossible  to  deduce  from  it  anj''  system  of  operations, 
or  to  suppose  that  the  author  of  it  would  at  that  time,  if  in 
a  position  of  power  or  influence  at  Wasliington,  have  had 
any  fixed  policy.  The  governor  was  easily  impressed  by 
other  people,  as  well  as  constituted  to  impress  them.  lie 
went  a  good  deal  b}'  impressions  indeed,  and  by  impulse. 
In  the  winter  of  18G0-61  he  earae  home  from  Washington 
more  or  less  disposed  to  think  well  of  the  Seward  and  C.  F. 
Adams  plan  of  compromising  the  difficulty  ;  and,  after  tele- 
graphing to  a  "Western  governor  that  Massachusetts  would 
not  send  delegates  to  the  peace  conference,  he  j'ielded :  but 
I  suppose  he  could  not  help  it,  and  went  for  the  appoint- 
ment. He  sent  strong  men,  however,  and  probabl}'  knew 
that  they  would  not  compromise  an}'  thing.  The  valedictory 
address  contains  things  which  ma}'  be  quoted  on  both  sides 
of  the  question  then  and  now  in  dispute.  There  are  ex- 
pressions in  it  which  indicate  the  dissatisfaction  whicli  Gov. 
Andrew  was  more  and  more  beginning  to  feel  witla  the 
"  radical"  Republicans.  The  bearing  of  it  is,  on  the  whole, 
opposed  to  granting  the  right  of  suffrage  to  the  blacks,  or  at 
least  to  all  of  them.  He  la3-s  stress  —  and  he  used  to  do 
so  in  conversation  —  on  securing  to  them  civil  rights  as  dis- 
tinguished from  political  rights.  He  thought  well  of  an 
educational  test  for  suffrage  :  though  this  was  against  his 
early  theory ;  for  he  was  always  opposed  to  the  reading-and- 
writing  amendment  in  Massachusetts  ;  and  one  of  the  things 
which  made  some  of  us  so  enthusiastic  for  him  in  1860  was 
his  liearty  hatred  of  Know-Nothingism,  and  secrecy  and  ex- 
clusiveness  in  all  their  forms  and  phases. 

As  I  read  again  this  valedictory,  and  recall  his  frequent 
conversations  laying  stress  on  "civil  rights"  as  different 
from  political  rights  (though  I  cannot  see  how  in  a  popular 
government  there  can  be  any  absolute  securit}'  for  civil 
rights,  except  in  an  equal  ballot ;  any  freedom  for  the  dis- 
franchised, except  freedom  by  courtesy'  and  on  sufferance), 
I  cannot  resist  the  belief  that  Boston  conservatism  has  some- 
thing more  than  its  habit  of  idolatr}'^  to  justify  it  in  thinking 


II 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  413 

well  of  Gov.  Andrew ;  and  that  the  governor  would  have 
been  a  discontented  man  for  a  good  while  after  1866,  if  he 
had  lived.  Andrew  was  not  a  great  enough  law3-er  to  be 
quite  free  from  technicalism  ;  yet  this  gave  wa}-  in  all  anti- 
slavery  cases,  and  indeed  in  all  cases  where  his  blood  became 
warmed  by  sympath}'  and  zeal  for  man  as  man.  Theoreti- 
cally, he  was  not  so  rigid  an  abolitionist  as  some  other  men : 
3'et  no  white  man  was  oftener  seen  in  Joy-street  Church  than 
he  ;  and,  if  the  prejudice  against  color  was  ever  alien  to  any 
Caucasian,  it  was  alien  to  him. 

Mr.  Dana  and  other  Republican  and  Free-Soil  lawj'ers 
could  not  consent  to  the  removal  of  Judge  Loring  from  the 
bench.  Andrew  had  a  great  respect  for  judicial  station  ;  but 
he  never  hesitated  to  attack  the  slave-catching  judge,  and, 
when  Caleb  Cushing  denounced  the  removal  in  the  House, 
made  a  speech  in  answer,  boldly  accepting  the  issue,  telling 
Mr.  Cushiug  that  this  was  the  result  of  no  momentar}'  effort, 
but  the  result  of  "  three  j'cars  of  consistent,  determined,  and 
at  last  successful  struggle  to  defend  the  rights  and  honor  of 
our  own  Massachusetts,  —  tlie  rights  and  honor  of  one  of  the 
sovereign  States  of  this  confederac}' ;  "  and  going  on  to 
denounce  slaveholding,  and  especiallj'  the  Fugitive-slave  Law  ; 
occasionally  striking  that  high  note  for  a  word  or  two  which 
made  a  prodigious  elfect  on  all  who  heard  it,  and  flinging  at 
Cushing,  at  last,  this  sentence  with  all  his  force  :  "They  may 
go  on ;  they  ma}*  achieve  other  triumphs,  encouraged  b}' 
teraporar}-  and  momentary  success  over  the  liberties  of  the 
people  ;  the}'  may  ride  rough-shoil  over  freedom  in  the  Terri- 
tories, backed  up  hy  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
composed  of  nine  men,  nearly-  all  of  them  packed  on  to  that 
bench  by  the  slave-power  of  the  government,  — placed  there, 
not  for  merit,  but  b}'  reason  of  a  preordained  and  predestinated 
subserviency  ;  they  may  go  on.  But  the  day  of  reckoning  is 
at  hand.  Behind  that  part}'  stalks  the  headsman  !  '  Because 
judgment  is  not  speedily  executed  against  an  evil  work, 
therefore  the  hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  have  it  full}-  set  in 
them  to  do  evil.'     But  the  judgment  will  come.     We  have 


414  "WARRINGTON:" 

had  our  ears  to-da}'  uear  enough  to  the  ground  to  hear  the 
muttering  thunder  of  its  terrible  reverberations.  Yes,  sir ; 
and  he,  "svho  in  that  day  of  the  reckoning  of  the  people  shall 
have  held  out  against  the  law,  will  onl}'  find,  that,  like  the 
murderer  of  Hamlet's  father,  he  has  been  spared,  until,  by 
the  last  crowning  act  of  abominable  t3Tann3',  he  shall  be 
struck  down, 

'  That  his  heels  may  kick  at  heaven, 
And  that  his  soul  may  be  as  damned  and  black 
As  hell,  whereto  it  goes.'  " 

You  may  imagine  the  effect  of  this  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives after  Mr.  Gushing' s  denunciation  of  the  removal. 
Bad  rhetoric,  do  j'ou  saj-?  But  it  spoke  the  feeling  of 
Massachusetts ;  made  John  A.  Andrew  governor ;  and  its 
spirit  kept  him  there  through  18G2,  and  to  the  close  of  his 
administration  ;  and  it  is  the  heroic  soul  and  human  heart 
of  the  common  people  which  rejoice  in  the  statue,  and  are 
glad  to  see  it  in  the  Capitol.  It  is  the  earl}'  John  A.  An- 
di'ew,  the  private  citizen,  the  abolitionist,  the  friend  and 
defender  of  the  fugitive  slave,  the  hater  of  the  gallows.  No 
man,  with  the  exception  of  Robert  Rantoul,  is  more  honor- 
ably connected  with  the  reform  which  seeks  to  root  up  that 
abominable  monument  of  barbarism,  who  is  even  more  to  be 
loved  and  venerated,  than  the  war  governor  and  the  theorist 
upon  political  science ;  and,  even  more  than  for  the  statue, 
Boston  rich  men  are  to  be  honored  for  their  bount}-  to  his 
widow,  his  children,  and  his  sisters.  There  are  some  lines 
which  Gov.  Andrew  was  fond  of  repeating,  and  which  occur 
in  one  of  his  messages,  although  not  correctl}'  quoted.  The 
verse  has  often  been  erroneously'  attributed  to  writers  who 
never  saw  it.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  wrote  it  in  1782.  The 
lines  are  as  follows  :  — 

"  Then  with  no  fiery,  throbbing  pain, 
No  cold  gradations  of  decay, 
Death  broke  at  once  the  vital  chain, 
And  freed  his  soul  the  nearest  way." 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  415 

JUDGE    CHARLES    ALLEN    IN    18G7. 

lu  geuuiue  legal  and  iutellectual  strength,  there  was  not 
probably  any  man  upon  either  of  our  courts  equal  to  Judge 
Allen  in  his  vigorous  daj's.  It  was  a  great  treat  to  hear 
him  some  twenty-five  j^ears  ago,  when  holding  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  at  Lowell,  tear  to  pieces  Mr.  'V\"ebster's 
argument  in  behalf  of  "W^^man,  the  President  of  the  Phosuix 
Bank.  "  Judge  Allen  has  got  the  case,"  said  Webster  when 
the  jur^'  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilt}'.  Allen  left  the  bench 
of  that  court  in  1844,  having  served  only  two  j^ears,  and 
returned  to  the  bar  and  to  politics.  From  this  time  to  1848 
he  was  one  of  the  most  dis'anguisheJ  of  the  Liberal  Whigs, 
co-operating  vrith  Mr.  Webster  in  the  anti-Texas  movement, 
and  with  S.  C.  Phillips,  Sumner,  C.  F.  Adams,  Wilson,  Pal- 
frej',  and  the  rest,  in  the  measures,  which,  in  1848,  led  to  the 
great  rebellion  against  Winthrop,  Stevenson,  and  Co.,  and 
the  final  defeat  and  extinction  of  the  Whig  organization. 

On  the  whole,  I  am  disposed  to  give  Judge  Allen  the 
credit  of  having  first  decidedly  broken  the  old  Whig  line. 
He  and  Gen.  ^Vilson  bolted  the  National  Convention  of 
1848,  and  came  home.  The  revolt  proceeded  rather  lan- 
guidly, until  Judge  Allen  one  day  called  a  meeting  in  Wor- 
cester City  Ilall  to  hear  a  speech  on  public  affairs.  Ilis  iron 
■will,  as  is  believed,  coerced  the  old  "Worcester  Sp}' "  into 
the  movement ;  and  from  that  day  the  Free-Soil  partj'  began 
to  grow  defiant  and  aggressive,  and,  though  beaten  for  a 
3'ear  or  two,  it  was  triumphant  soon  after  1850,  and  it  has 
been  ever  since  in  the  ascendant  in  Massachusetts.  The 
judge's  speeches,  during  these  three  or  four  years,  were 
wonderfully  able,  —  much  superior  to  those  of  any  of  his 
co-laborers.  In  Congress  he  failed  somewhat  for  lack  of 
health,  and  perhaps  of  industry,  and  was,  no  doubt,  glad  to 
get  back  to  judicial  pursuits. 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS. 

Charles  Francis  Adams  is  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  a  Whig  in  good  and  regular  standing  until  1848.     He 


416  "WABRIXGTON:"  j 

was  a  leader  of  the  Liberal  "Whigs  from  1844  to  1848,  sup- 
porting a  newspaper,  and  editing  it  with  much  abilit}',  until 
after  Gen.  Taylor' ^  nomination,  and  taking  the  lead,  with 
Sumner,  Stephen  C.  Phillips,  Hemy  Wilson,  Charles  Allen, 
and  John  G.  Palfre}',  against  the  Ashmuns  and  Winthrops 
and  Stevensous,  who  were  for  continuing  the  old  "national" 
polic}',  which  finally  was  worn  out,  and  had  to  be  discon- 
tinued. He  has  never  flinched  in  an}'  case  where  principle 
was  at  stake.  He  voted  for  Van  Buren  in  1848,  and  was  an 
uneas}-  Whig  dm-ing  the  times  of  the  Texas-annexation 
question,  and  a  very  uneasy  Free-Soiler  after  18rj0.  As 
early  as  1844  he  wrote  a  series  of  articles  on  the  Texas 
question  for  "The  Boston  Courier,"  in  which  occurs  the 
following  cm'ious  language  concerning  Van  Buren,  —  curious 
when  we  think  of  the  vote  of  the  writer  in  1840,  and  the 
vice-presidential  candidacy  of  1848  on  the  same  ticket  with 
the  little  magician:  "Mr.  Van  Bureu,"  said  Mr.  Adams, 
"  must  be  judged  by  his  preceding  course,  taken  as  a 
whole ;  and  from  that  let  no  man  delude  himself  with  the 
belief  that  he  is  fixed  to  any  thing  but  his  ov,m  interest." 
At  this  time  Mr.  Adams  supported  Mr.  Claj'  as  a  choice 
of  evils  ;  but  so  strong  was  he  against  Texas,  that  his  lan- 
guage implied  that  dissolution  of  the  Union,  ultimate  if  not 
immediate,  might  justifiabl}'  be  the  result  of  its  annexation. 
Texas  came  in ;  then  followed  Conscience  versus  Cotton 
Whiggery,  and  the  revolt  of  1848,  Mr.  Adams  taking  a 
prominent  part. 

The  coalition  never  quite  suited  him ;  and  in  1853  he  took 
a  stand  against  it,  and  did  much  towards  its  final  defeat, 
for  which  I,   for  one,  have  forgiven  him  long  ago ;   for  it 
deserved  to   be   defeated,    though   not    altogether  for  Mr. 
Adams's  reasons.     The  Free-Soilers,  as  a  party,  did  nothing        , 
more  in  Massachusetts  ;  but  man}-  of  them  got  office  in  1855       < 
through  Know^-Nothingism.     To   this   Mr.    Adams   was   as 
strongly  opposed  as  Mr.  Sumner,  denouncing  it  very  vigor-       ^ 
ousl}'  in  a  speech  at  Sj'racuse  and  elsewhere,  right  in  the 
midst  of  its  triumphs.     He  preserved  his  strong   abolition 


rSX-PORTBAITS.  417 

,  ideas,  though  he  was  not  very  prominently  before  the  public 
until  after  his  entrance  into  Congress  ;  and  in  Ma}',  1860,  he 
made  a  speech  entitled  "The  Republican  Party  a  Xecessity," 
which  had  the  old  ring  in  it. 

In  Januar}-,  1861,  however,  he  turned  up  a  compromiser. 
Seward,  about  this  time,  was  holding  communication,  through 
James  E.  Harve}',  with  the  traitors  of  South  Carolina,  advis- 
ing with  Jerry  Black  and  James  Buchanan,  and  proclaiming 
that  there  was  no  power  to  coerce  the  rebels.  It  is  not 
important  to  know  whether  Mr.  Adams  fell  under  Mr. 
Seward's  influence,  or  Mr.  Seward  under  Mr.  Adams's  ;  but 
the}'  were  in  sympathy  with  each  other.  A  theorizer  and 
doctrinaire  when  out  of  public  life,  when  he  got  into  Con- 
gress he  fell  into  the  compan}'  of  men,  who,  originall}-  theo- 
rizers  and  doctrinaires  like  himself,  had  also  an  idea,  that, 
when  they  become  in  anj-  degree  responsible  for  public 
affairs,  the\"  must  necessarily  compromise  in  order  to  be 
"  practical."     Sagacity,  in  their  opinion,  consists  in  being 

.the  first  to  offer  terms,  instead  of  being  the  last  to  accept 
them. 

A  writer  in  "  Lippincott,"  in  giving  a  biograph}-  of  Mr. 
Adams,  made  loud  complaint  that  the  leaders  of  the  coalition 
kept  him  out,  although  they  provided  places  for  Boutwell, 
Sumner,  Dana,  Griswold,  Hallett,  and  so  on.  The  reason 
why  they  did  not  provide  a  place  for  Mr.  Adams  was  that 
Quincy  was  a  coalition  town,  and  these  other  men  resided 
in  WLig  towns. 

The  story  that  the  Free-Soil  party  and  the  death  of  Whig- 
ger}' grew  out  of  a  quarrel  beginning  as  far  back  as  1841, 
and  that  it  culminated  in  a  consultation  between  Conscience 
Whigs  like  Mr.  Adams,  Mr.  Sumner,  Mr.  Palfre}-,  Mr.  Wil- 
son, Mr.  E.  R.  Iloar,  Mr.  S.  C.  Phillips,  and  others,  with 
J.  G.  Whittier,  AYendell  Phillips,  Mr.  Garrison,  and  John 
Picrpont,  could  hardly  have  originated  with  Mr.  Adams. 
This  must  refer  to  what  was  called  the  • '  anti-Texas  move- 
ment," which  was  strictly  non-political,  or  Mr.  Garrison  and 
Mr.  Phillips  would  never  have  had  any  thing  to  do  with  it,  as 


418  •'  WARRINGTON: " 

the}'  never  had  anj'  thing  to  do  with  the  Free-Soil  movement.  • 
This  anti  -  Texas  movement  was  a  movement  for  public 
meetings  and  petitions,  and  nothing  more ;  and  its  editorial 
writers  were  Elizur  Wright  and  William  Henr^'  Channing 
maiul}'.  Mr.  Wright  edited  its  newspaper,  which  was  called 
"  The  Chainbreaker."  It  lasted  till  Texas  was  annexed,  and 
had  no  farther  immediate  influence  on  politics.  "  This  was 
the  death  of  the  Whig  part}-,"  says  "The  Nation,"  igno- 
rantl}'  following  this  ignorant  writer  in  "  Lippincott."  Wli}-, 
Mr.  Webster  was  almost  at  the  head  of  this  "  Conscience" 
Whig  movement,  and  wrote,  with  Judge  Allen,  its  address, 
which  was  adopted  b}'  a  Faneuil-hall  meeting ;  and  it  was 
not  until  after  tlie  Mexican  war  broke  out,  and  Mr.  Winthrop 
went  in  for  the  "country  however  bounded,"  and  Gen. 
Taylor  began  to  be  thought  an  available  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, that  the  terms  "Conscience  Whigs"  and  "Cotton 
Whigs"  began  to  be  heard.  Judge  Hoar,  who  was  in  the 
State  Senate  in  1846,  first  made  use  of  these  terms  in  debate 
there. 

The  parallel  this  writer  draws  between  Gen.  Wilson  and 
Mr.  Adams  is  true  enougli  on  one  side  of  it.  The  writer 
saj-s  Mr.  Adams  had  great  faith  in  principles,  and  not  so 
much  in  expedients.  The  truth  is,  that,  while  Gen.  Wilson 
is  an  expedientist,  Mr.  Adams  is  no  less  so.  I  have  heai'd 
him  suggest  expedients  by  the  hour  together.  He  was 
alwaA's  of  a  diplomatic  turn  of  mind,  and  of  course  fitted 
for  what  goes  by  the  name  of  statesmanship,  after  the  old- 
fashioned  pattern  ;  but  the  difference  between  him  and  Mr. 
Sumner,  for  instance,  or  Judge  Allen,  in  the  way  of  frank- 
ness and  directness,  was  world-wide.  The  Adamses  are  an 
independent  race  of  men,  and  that  is  a  \evy  great  point  in 
their  favor ;  but  none  of  them  was  ever  3*et  hanged  for  his 
frankness,  or  a  disposition  to  do  awaj-  with  the  arts  of  diplo- 
macy, even  in  the  minutice  of  local  politics.  Mr.  C.  F. 
Adams,  sen.,  got  to  Congress  about  the  time  the  war  broke 
out;  and  his  career  there  strikingly  illustrates  liis  diplo- 
matic and  expedientist  turn  of  mind.     He  was  with  Seward 


PEN-rOETTlAITS.  419 

throughout.  His  principal  speech  was  a  disgraceful  attempt 
to  bridge  over  the  difficultj-  by  a  compromise  ;  and  his  name 
is  identified  with  an  attempt  to  amend  the  Constitution 
in  the  interest  of  strengthening  slavei'y  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  the  war,  which  original  thinlcers  and  sound  mor- 
alists knew  could  not  be  prevented  by  an}*  process  of  this 
sort. 

In  his  younger  days,  Mr.  Adams  was  a  bold  man.  No 
man,  from  1840  to  the  downfall  of  the  era  of  the  Whig  party 
in  Massachusetts,  was  more  fearless  or  more  able  than  lie  on 
the  antislaver}'  side.  No  man,  it  seemed  to  me,  had  less 
regard  for  the  social  and  political  environments  of  Boston  and 
Massachusetts  Whiggism.  His  hates  and  contempts  for  the 
cottonocracj'  and  the  doughfaces  were  salutar}-  and  refresh- 
ing. His  speeches  and  reports  and  newspaper-articles  Avere 
of  the  most  downright  character.  He  was  not  conservative 
enough,  or  practising  lawyer  enough,  to  be  bound  at  all, 
lilvc  some  other  Free-Soilers,  b}-  judicial  decisions  or  old- 
fashioned  constitutional  theories.  He  was  never  found  among 
those  antislaveiy  men  who  thought,  that,  if  the  Fugitive-slave 
Law  was  not  to  be  obe3'ed,  it  at  least  ought  not  to  be  re- 
sisted. He  gloried  in  the  "Jerry  rescue"  at  S3'racuse, 
and  in  all  other  rescues  of  fugitive  slaves.  The  indomitable 
spirit  of  his  father  was  in  him  always. 

JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

John  Quincy,  Democrat  as  he  is,  seems  to  me  the  best 
inheritor  of  the  Adams  qualities ;  lacking  some,  because  he 
was  3'oung  during  the  thiclc  of  tlie  antislavery  war,  but 
making  up  b}*  being  more  a  "  man  of  the  world"  than  most 
of  his  race.  He  is  independent,  like  his  ancestors,  and  as 
honest,  I  dare  saj-,  as  the}'  were  or  are.  There  is,  I  am 
soriy  to  say,  in  this  connection,  nothing  in  the  blood  or 
histoiy  of  the  Adams  famih"  to  inspire  confidence  in  their 
superior  honestj'  over  the  rest  of  the  human  race. 

The  other  sons,  instead  of  being,  as  their  father  was  at 
their  age,  bold  and  downright,  are  politically  timid  ;  and  Mr. 


420  "WARRINGTON:" 

Henrj'  has  altogether  too  much  of  the  English  and  diplomatic 
and  supercilious  character  which  belongs  to  ' '  The  New- 
York  Nation  ' '  school  to  allow  him  to  become  a  useful  pub- 
lic man.  These  men  are  independent  students  of  political 
affairs :  they  think  for  themselves.  There  is  some  of  the 
cant  which  goes  hy  the  name  of  "  high  tone  "  about  them ; 
but  this  comes  of  too  much  reading  of  "The  New- York 
Nation,"  the  organ  of  "  tone."  J.  Q.  has  not  much  of  this, 
however  ;  and  the  younger  brothers  will  get  rid  of  it  by  and 
b}'.  I  apprehend  that  John  Quincy's  experience  in  his  office 
of  trial-justice,  in  the  Qninc}-  caucuses,  and  in  the  councils 
of  the  Democratic  part}-,  has  banished  "  high  tone"  prett}' 
nearly-  from  his  mind. 

I  presume  the  great-grandfather  and  the  grandfather,  in 
their  youth,  had  some  of  the  demagogue  element,  but  not 
much.  Charles  Francis  never,  apparentl}',  had  any  of  it ; 
but  this  great-grandson  blooms  out  richl}'.  He  is  a  3'oung 
man  of  fair  talents,  but  absolutely  without  convictions  upon 
any  subject  whatever.  His  first  splurge,  in  the  legislature 
of  18GG,  was  an  attack  upon  Judge  Lord  and  District- 
Attorney  Abbott  of  Essex  Count}',  on  account  of  their 
supposed  partisanship  in  prosecuting  certain  over-zealous 
Republicans  who  had  tarred  and  feathered  a  Swampscott 
Copperhead.  He  brought  in  an  order,  instructing  the 
attorney-general  to  take  charge  of  the  cases  ;  and  the  result 
was  that  the}'  were  quashed,  or  in  some  other  way  discon- 
tinued. This  proceeding  gi-eatly  shocked  the  conservatives, 
especially  the  conservative  lawyers  ;  but  Adams  never  af- 
fected to  have  any  thing  but  contempt  for  them  and  their 
opinions  on  this  subject.  By  and  by  he  took  a  lurch  to  the 
other  side.  Resolutions  on  national  afi'airs  came  up  ;  and  he 
alternately  fought  and  dodged  these,  appearing  one  time  as 
the  zealous  friend  of  Gen.  Wilson,  who  at  that  period  was 
occupying  a  "conservative"  position.  When  fall  came,  he 
went,'  with  John  L.  Swift  and  the  rest,  into  Johnsonism, 
presided  at  one  of  the  State  conventions,  ran  for  the  legisla- 
ture and  got  beaten,  and  was  then  quiet  until  he  turned  up 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  421 

as  the  candidate  of  the  P.  L.  L.i  branch  of  the  Copperhead 
part}'. 

His  father  and  grandfather  were  deadly  enemies  of  all 
secret  societies,  and  never  specially  advocated  the  interests 
of  the  liquor-dealers.  "Jack"  went  in  all  over,  like  the 
man  who  blac  ed  himself  from  head  to  foot  when  he  under- 
took to  play  OJiello.  I  dare  say  he  treats  the  whole  affair 
as  a  joke  ;  for  he  is  considerable  of  a  humorist.  His  letter 
will  not  bear  \Qvy  close  anah'zation.  He  hints  that  he 
entertains  some  "strong  opinions"  upon  questions  which 
the  Democratic  resolutions  do  not  touch.  He  avows  his 
admiration  for  Jefferson's  theories  in  terms  which  indicate 
that  he  believes  in  them.  No  party  can  succeed  which 
adopts  the  contrary  theor}-. 

It  was  said  at  the  Virginia  election  that  some  of  the  negro 
voters  in  Virginia  were  turned  away  from  the  polls  because 
they  had  forgotten  the  names  the}-  were  registered  b}*.  This 
is  not  uncommon.  A  young  man  named  John  Quincy  Adams, 
living  out  here  in  Quinc}*,  has  forgotten  his  name,  though  it 
is  quite  an  illustrious  one,  and  would  seem  to  be  difficult  to 
forget.  These  negroes  have  not  forgotten  their  part}'  name. 
They  are  not  apt  at  spelling,  and  would  probably  tell  you  that 
"  c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i'A'-e  "  spells  rehel^  and  "  r-a-d-i-c-a-1 " 
spells  loyal;  and  they  do  not  get  far  out  of  the  way.  It  is 
melancholy,  no  doubt,  that  Jack  and  Peter  have  forgotten  their 
names  ;  but  the  blame  partly  rests  on  their  former  owners, 
who  never  gave  names  to  half  of  them.  The  mischief  is  not 
irreparable  :  they  will  learn  fast  enough.  Meanwhile,  let 
radicals,  who  are  half  disposed  to  vote  for  Copperhead  can- 
didates in  Massachusetts  for  the  sake  of  rebuking  somebody 
or  other,  consider  whether  their  memory  of  their  own  names 
is  not  getting  a  little  defective.  Tlie  capacity  of  the  whole 
people  for  being  governed  as  well  as  for  governing  must 
be  acknowledged.  Some  whim  prevents  John  Quincy  from 
seeing  the  truth  of  the  woman  question ;  but  he  will  by  and 
by  be  logical  even  on  tliat. 

1  A  secret  free-liquor  party. 


422  "  WAHniXG  TON: " 

JAMES   C.    ATER. 
OK  HIS  KOMIXATIOX,   Ef  1874,  TO  CONGRESS. 

Dr.  Ajer  has  at  last  purchased  a  nomination  in  the  Lowell 
and  Lawrence  District.  The  onl}'  redeeming  feature  in  this 
case  is  that  A3-er  probably-  has  no  idea  that  he  has  done  any- 
thing contrary-  to  good  morals  or  common  decency.  If  he 
ever  heard  of  Robert  Walpole,  the  onl}'  thing  he  ever  heard  of 
him  was  his  celebrated  saying,  that  '  •  all  those  men  have  their 
price."  This  nomination  is  so  disgusting,  that  it  seems 
impossible  that  it  should  be  followed  by  an  election.  Mr. 
Tarbox,  his  opponent,  is,  on  the  stump,  a  strong  partisan, 
but  a  very  honest  man,  who  in  the  legislature  always  acts 
with  less  regard  to  party  than  men  who  appear  less  stiff  in 
their  partisanship.  It  was  said  two  j-ears  ago,  that  a  large 
part  of  Aj-er's  monej',  used  for  electioneering-purposes, 
forgot  to  come  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  disbursing  agents. 
It  was  "  high  jinks  "  for  a  long  time  b}'  the  lobbyists,  who 
probabl}-  thought  the^'  would  '•  save  "  the  doctor  for  another 
trial.  They  may  conclude  that  they  will  "  save  him  "  again 
for  1876.  Such  a  man  is  b}-  no  means  to  be  thrown  away ; 
and  they  know  full  well,  that,  if  lie  is  elected,  there  will  be 
no  more  mone}'  for  them.  A  cynic  or  a  satirist  might  justify 
this  nomination  on  military  grounds. 

"When  the  Pemberton  Mill  fell,  Mr.  Frank  "Watson,  of  one 
of  the  Lawrence  papers,  wrote  an  account  of  the  event, 
which,  I  am  informed,  A3"er  got  reprinted  on  one  of  his 
advertising  sheets,  in  company  with  a  proslavery  speech  or 
address  purporting  to  be  b}'  himself,  and  with  which  he 
flooded  the  Southern  country,  sparing  neither  age,  sex,  nor 
condition.  He  probabh'  slew  more  rebels,  real  or  incipient, 
in  this  campaign,  than  Gen.  Grant  in  all  of  his.  "When  God 
lets  loose  a  pill-maker  on  this  planet,  then  look  out !  It  is 
realh-  a  very  small  thing  to  elect  such  a  man  to  Congress. 
The  wonder  is  that  he  was  not  chosen  before.  If  he  had 
been  made  a  "colonel,"  he  would  have  got  there  eight  or 
ten  3-ears  ago.    I  suppose  the  real  trouble  has  been  the  iudis- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  423 

criminate  character  of  his  slaughterings.  For  every  Southern 
stomach  disarranged,  a  Northern  kidnej'  has  been  '•  devilled." 
However,  time  has  finally  set  all  this  aright.  If  A^'er  is 
successful,  the  quack  epoch  may  be  fairl}'  said  to  be  inaugu- 
rated. If  Grant  is  choked  off  from  his  tliird  term,  it  will  be 
by  an  Ayer  '"movement."  We  are,  speaking  geologically,  in 
the  bottle  strata  of  our  history-.  Our  chrouolog}-  will  hence- 
forth contain  such  items  as  these:  "In  1860,  Ayer's  ped- 
dlers first  entered  Scandinavia ;  in  I8G0,  a  deluge  of  cherr}' 
pectoral  flooded  Japan ;  18 GG,  Cathay  captured ;  1867,  the 
study  of  Ayer's  Almanac  made  compulsory  in  Australia." 
History',  geography,  mathematics,  Kosmos  itself,  is  to  be 
rewritten  in  the  new  light  throvtii  upon  it  b}'  the  Lowell 
congressman,  whose  statue  will,  four  hundred  3"ears  hence, 
be  found  in  cities  buried  Aolcanicall}',  and  whose  autogi'aphs 
and  recipes  on  the  obelisks  of  interior  Africa  will  puzzle  the 
explorers  of  that  era. 

FllANCIS   W.    BIliD   IN   1870. 

Mr.  Bhxl  has  qualities  which  make  him,  on  the  whole, 
about  as  strong  a  politician  as  any  man  in  the  Common- 
wealth ;  and  of  his  faithfulness  it  is  unnccessar}'  to  speak. 
He  combines,  better  than  any  other  man,  wise  political  fore- 
sight and  practical  wisdom  of  organization.  Ilis  influence 
upon  politicians  and  public  men  has,  I  am  confident,  been 
greater  than  that  of  any  man  among  us.  Mr.  Bird  is  a 
thorough  believer  in  William  Loggett's  motto,  that  "the 
world  is  governed  too  much."  He  is  a  free-trader  and  an 
anti-restrictionist  in  most  tilings,  and  one  of  the  shrewdest 
politicians  in  a  part^'  which  is  not  famous  for  shrewd  politi- 
cians. Few  men,  if  any,  in  Massachusetts,  have  so  many 
mental  resources  for  a  fight  of  any  kind  as  Francis  W.  Bird. 

SILVEU-WEDDING     ADDUES3     TO     HON.    F.    W.    BIRD. ■\VUITTEX 

BY    "WARRINGTON"    IN    1868. 

Dear  and  honored  Friend,  —  In  congratulating  you  and 
Mrs.  Bird  upon  the  return  of  this  anniversary  of  your  mar- 


424  ''WARRINGTON:" 

riage, — upon  your  silver  wedding,  —  we  cannot  let  the  op- 
portunit}-  pass  of  expressing  to  3'ou  personally,  and  b}'  some 
substantial  token,  our  warm  affection  for  30U,  and  our  pro- 
found admiration  for  those  qualities  of  heart  and  mind  which 
have  made  you  not  onl^-  the  delight  of  your  intimate  friends, 
but  a  most  useful,  and  we  might  almost  say  indispensable, 
member  of  our  social  and  political  body. 

Most  of  us  have  known  you  long ;  all  of  us  long  enough 
to  appreciate  those  strong  personal  and  public  virtues  which 
have  enabled  3- on  to  wield,  sociall}^  and  politicall}",  a  power 
in  Massachusetts  and  national  politics  superior  to  that  held 
b}'  an}-  man  among  us  who  has  not  been  in  the  exercise  of 
high  public  functions.  You  have  illustrated  the  fact,  that  an 
earnest,  indefatigable,  independent  man,  hy  the  power  of  his 
will,  the  vigor  of  his  brain,  and  the  magnetism  of  his  friend- 
ship, ma}-  influence  to  a  ver}-  large  degree  the  action  of 
men,  who,  being  more  ambitious  of  personal  distinction,  have 
attained  much  higher  public  station.  For  twenty  years  past, 
3-0U  have  done  more  than  any  other  man  to  hold  together,  to 
concentrate,  to  inspire,  the  reformator}-  public  sentiment  of 
this  Commonwealth,  and  to  lead  it  on  to  victor}-.  Your 
counsel  has  been  sought  by  governors  and  senators,  and  sel- 
dom disregarded  except  to  their  loss ;  while  to  the  humbler 
members  of  the  part}-  of  progress  3-ou  have  been  an  invalua- 
ble guide,  philosopher,  and  friend.  "We  know  perfectly  well, 
that,  at  least  up  to  a  ver}-  recent  period,  3-ou  have  been  one 
of  the  best-abused  men  in  the  communit}-.  Your  habit  of 
den3-ing  theories  which  were  supposed  to  be  well  established, 
of  giving  hospitalit}'  to  unpopular  doctrines,  of  exposing 
prevailing  fallacies,  and  of  deriding  the  omnipresent  and 
innumerable  humbugs  of  the  da}-,  have  made  3-our  name  a 
bugbear  to  the  ignorant.  But  3-ou  have  outlived  all  this. 
•You  have  beaten  down,  b3-  sheer  force  of  character,  all 
opposition  ;  and  now,  hard  upon  sixt3-  years  of  age  as  you 
are,  you  are  as  3-oung  as  the  3-oungest,  and  more  useful  than 
the  most  useful,  man  among  us. 

We  honor  you  for  your  public  virtues,  and  for  3-our  private 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  425 

qualities  we  hold  you  in  the  warmest  affection.  Yours  has 
not  been  "  a  fugitive  and  cloistered  virtue,"  nor  has  radi- 
calism made  ^'ou  an  ascetic.  Good-fellowship  has  been  in 
you  most  admirabl}'  joined  to  steadfastness  of  purpose,  and 
earnestness  of  principle ;  and,  although  3'ou  have  liberally 
scattered,  we  rejoice  to  see  everywhere  about  us,  in  doors 
and  out,  that  you  have  as  liberally*  increased.  AYe  rejoice  in 
your  worldl}'  prosperit}- ;  we  congratulate  3'ou  on  all  the 
happ}-  circumstances  of  yoi.r  lot,  —  on  the  love  of  wife  and 
children,  the  lo3'alt3'  of  friends,  the  respect  of  all  men  who 
know  3'ou,  and  whose  respect  is  valuable ;  and  we  ask  3'ou 
to  accept  of  this  gift^  as  a  token  of  our  love,  to  be  kept  as 
a  memorial  of  this  occasion,  and  handed  down  to  3'our  pos- 
terit3^  as  an  heir-loom,  to  tell  3'our  children  and  your  chil- 
dren's children  of  that  high  degree  of  appreciation  and  love 
with  which  "  Frank  Bird  "  was  held  by  all  who  knew  him. 

THE    BIRD    CLUB    IN    18C0. 

You  must  know,  now,  that  there  are  two  sets  of  dinner- 
eaters  at  Parker's  eveiy  Saturda3'.  The  radicals  attend 
"Bird's  dinners,"  and  the  auti-radicals  the  other  diimers, 
which  have  no  distinguishing  name.  This  line  of  distinction 
is  the  best  I  can  draw;  but  it  does  not,  after  all,  tell  the 
exact  truth.  The  prevailing  tone  of  the  Bird  dinner  is  anti- 
Banks  and  pro-Seward ;  3'et  I  know  some  strong  friends  of 
the  governor^  who  attend  them,  and  others  who  do  not  assent 
to  the  expressions  of  hostility  to  the  governor  v»hich  are 
frequently  heard  there.  On  the  other  hand,  several  cordial 
haters  of  his  Excellency-,  and  some  radicals  of  an  intense 
character,  frequent  tlie  other  table.  When  I  sa3'  that  a  sub- 
scription-paper in  aid  of  an3-  radical  and  ultra  antislaverj- 
movement  would  be  pretty- certain  to  be  carried  to  Mr.  Bird's 
part3-  first,  and  would  obtain  a  more  cordial  reception  there, 
if  not  more  mone3',  than  at  the  other  place,  I  perhaps  best 
express  the  dilTerence  between  the  two  parties.     The  gov- 

1  A  silver  service.  -  N.  P.  Banks. 


426  "WAIiRINQTON:" 

ernor  frequently  attends  the  anti-radical  dinner.  Senalor 
Wilson,  who  is  cosmopolitan  in  his  tastes,  visits  both,  but,  I 
think,  prefers  the  radical  set.  John  A.  Andrew  is  a  regular 
attendant  upon  Mr.  Bird's  party. 

[From  Diary  of  Feb.  27,  1865.] 

Deab  Sir,  —  Saturday  next  will  be  Marcli  4,  —  Inaguratlon  Day. 
We  should  be  bappy  to  see  you,  with  such  friends  as  you  think  would 
enjoy  the  gathering,  at  Young's  Hotel,  at  half -after  two  o'clock. 
Yours  truly, 

F.  W.  BiBD, 

Tickets,  two  dollars,  paid  to  the  servant  on  entering  the  hall. 

About  thirty-  of  us  were  present,  —  Dr.  Estes  Howe  at  the 
head  of  the  table,  Gov.  Andrew  on  the  right.  Among 
others  present  were  F.  W.  Bird,  Gen.  Oliver  (State  Treas- 
urer), two  colonels,  Adin  Tha3-er,  William  Stowe,  Charles 
W.  Story,  Edward  L.  Pierce,  Coffin  ("Carleton"  of  ''The 
Journal"),  William  L.  Burt,  J.  M.  Day,  Charles  W.  Slack, 
S.  R.  Urbino,  Elizur  Wright,  James  M.  Shute,  &c.  We  con- 
gratulated each  other  on  Sumner's  resistance  to  the  Louisiana 
Bill,  and  its  success.  Bird  showed  me  a  letter  from  Sumner, 
in  which  he  says  it  is  whispered  that  the  bill  and  the  propo- 
sition to  make  a  bust  of  Taney  may  be  hitched  to  the  Appro- 
priation Bill ;  and  he  significantly  adds,  "  If  that  is  done,  the 
Appropriation  Bill  will  not  pass."  He  told  the  President, 
"Mr.  President,  this  bill  ought  not  to  pass,  and  it  shall  not 
pass." 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  dined  at  Young's  with  Mr. 
Bird  and  his  club  once  in  1868.  I  don't  know  whether  there 
is  any  thing  very  extraordinary  in  this  ;  at  any  rate,  there 
ought  not  to  be.  Women  are  very  interesting  people  for 
men  to  dine  or  breakfast  with.  I  do  not  attach  an}-  particu- 
lar significance  to  Mrs.  Stanton's  presence  at  the  dinner  at 
Young's,  and  am  not  sure  even  that  it  indicates  owy  new 
light  on  the  question  of  woman's  suffrage  ;  but  I  am  sure 
that  the  company  of  intelligent  ladies  is  the  most  pleasant 
company  intelligent  men  can  have,  and  vice  versa. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  427 

I  have  never  jet  seen  or  heard  of  any  Boston  chib  or 
societ}'  so  powerful  in  its  influence  (taking  its  history'  for 
twent}'  or  twent3--five  j-ears  together)  as  the  Bird  Club. 
And  this  is  not  even  a  "  club."  It  is  not  a  secret  order,  or 
an  open  order,  or  order  of  any  sort.  It  never  had  an  officer, 
or  a  record,  or  a  treasury-,  or  a  committee,  or  a  member- 
ship, more  than  custom,  not  ver}-  strict,  gave  it. 

ANSON   BURLINGAME. 

The  first  time  I  saw  "Massa  Ansongame  "  (as  the  colored 
man  called  him,  in  his  hurried  ejaculations  of  joy  over  his 
election  at  the  time  Mr.  Appleton  came  so  near  defeating 
him)  was  in  1848.  He  was  in  his  office  in  the  old  State- 
house  building,  —  an  office  in  which  he  pretended  to  practise 
law,  but  in  which  the  clients  he  met  were  mostly  the  3"oung 
and  enthusiastic  Free-Soilers  of  that  da^-.  It  is  just  twenty 
j-ears  since  E.  R.  Hoar  and  others  sent  out  that  queer  circu- 
lar summoning  tho  anti-Taylor  men  to  Worcester  to  organ- 
ize. I  mention  Judge  Hoar's  name  because  he  was  the 
author  of  the  circular.  "VVe  got  together  under  that  call  to 
oppose  Taylor,  because  he  was  "not  a  Whig."  I  wrote 
manj'  a  column  in  "  The  Lowell  Courier  "  before  the  nomi- 
nation, and  in  "The  Boston  Whig"  after  it,  to  prove  that 
Taylor  was  no  Whig,  and  therefore  that  it  was  no  part  of  the 
duty  of  a  Whig  to  supi)ort  him.  After  the  nomination  of 
Van  Buren,  if  I  remember  rightly,  less  emphasis  was  placed 
upon  that  argument ;  and  it  would  have  been  much  mor« 
candid  at  the  outset  to  acknowledge  that  our  purpose  was  to 
break  up  the  party  which  had  shown  itself  incompetent  to 
deal  with  the  living  questions  of  the  da}-.  Burlingame  was 
tlie  favorite  young  orator  of  the  party  ;  while  S.  C.  Phillips, 
Charles  Allen,  Henry  Wilson,  and  C.  F.  Adams,  did  the 
heavy  work.  Sumner  was  more  sought  after  tlian  all  tlie 
others,  attaining  to  such  popularity  among  the  rank  and  file, 
that  they  insisted  on  his  nomination  for  the  Senate.  The 
coalition  onlj-  two  or  three  years  after  defeated  the  Whigs, 
and  took  the  State  out  of  their  hands. 


428  "WARRINGTON:" 

Anson  got  into  the  Senate  from  Middlesex,  and  gave 
offence  to  some  of  his  Free-Soil  constituents  —  indeed,  to 
nearty  all  of  them  —  by  opposing  the  prohibitoiy  liquor  law. 
In  1853  he  made  his  appearance  as  a  carpet-bagger  from 
Northborough  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  Hallett 
carried  his  bag  to  Gill,  Boutwell  to  Berlin,  Sumner  to 
Marshfield,  Dana  to  Manchester,  Griswold  to  Erving,  Alvord 
to  Montague ;  and  so  on.  I  cannot  say  that  carpet-bagging 
in  this  case  was  a  success.  If  these  men  had  all  been  kept 
at  home,  we  should  probabl}'  have  had  a  better  constitution, 
or,  at  an^'  rate,  one  less  likelj'  to  meet  with  opposition. 

Some  of  us  used  to  laugh  at  his  speeches ;  but  the}-  were 
wonderfull}'  effective  to  the  ear ;  and  no  man  was  so  popular 
in  Faneuil  Hall  or  in  the  countr}-  towns  as  he,  except 
Sumner,  who  was  infinitely  stronger,  and  very  eloquent  too, 
twenty  j'ears  ago.  Burlingame  made  no  great  headwa}'  in 
the  Senate  or  in  the  Constitutional  Convention.  When  the 
coalition  went  down,  in  1853,  Wilson,  Banks,  Burlingame, 
and  a  lot  of  others  who  had  no  visible  means  of  support 
except  by  politics,  were  almost  in  despair.  The  temptation 
to  take  up  Know-Nothingism  was  too  strong  for  them  ;  and, 
after  providing  for  Gardner  by  making  him  governor.  Banks 
and  Burlingame  took  a  couple  of  the  congressional  seats,  and 
Wilson  the  senatorship,  dividing  the  spoils  with  such  rubbish 
as  I  need  not  name.  Wilson's  activity  saved  him  ;  Banks's 
imposing  voice  and  manner  persuaded  the  people  that  he  was 
indispensable  ;  and  Burlingame  went  in  on  his  luck.  John 
L.  Swift  used  to  sa}',  "The  difference  between  Burlingame 
and  Wilson  is  that  Burlingame  never  gets  up,  and  Wilson 
never  goes  to  bed ;  ' '  and  so  our  3'oung  orator  went  to  Con- 
gress from  a  tough  and  difficult  district,  and  kept  there  three 
successive  terms. 

It  seemed  that  luck  failed  him  in  1860 ;  but  he  was  de- 
feated onl}'  to  become  minister  to  China,  and  then  ambas- 
sador to  the  world  :  and  so,  instead  of  having  Judge  Russell 
to  deliver  his  eulog}',  and  a  lot  of  his  old  political  advocates 
for  his  pall-bearers,  he  has  Dr.  Peabody  and  Dr.  Briggs  and 


1 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  429 

Mr.  Winthrop,  two  of  whom  never  knew  him,  and  the  thu-d 
of  whom  hated  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  Such  is  the 
sad  penalty'  of  greatness.  But  we  shall  all  remember  Bur- 
lingame  as  a  thoroughly-  good  fellow,  a  man  who  did  3eoman 
service  in  the  good  cause,  and,  after  all,  a  man  of  real  diplo- 
matic skill.  Few  men  did  so  good  service  on  the  stump  ; 
and  I  know  of  no  member  of  Congress  from  this  State,  who, 
amidst  temptations  to  swerve  him  from  the  antislaver^-  path, 
was  truer  than  he,  while  mau}'  of  them  have  fallen  far  short 
of  him.  He  was  never  found  wanting  when  the  vote  came  ; 
and  though  I  think  we  have  always  had  half  a  dozen 
better  speakers  in  this  State  than  Burlingame,  3'et  his 
speeches  were  alwa3's  fall  of  the  right  spirit.  The  old  anti- 
slavery  men  and  Free-Soilers  are  fast  dropping  away.  John 
R.  Manley,  the  fast  friend,  confidant,  and  sta}'  of  Theodore 
Parker,  has  died ;  Dr.  Swan,  candidate  for  governor  in  1857 
of  those  Republicans  who  were  too  "straight"  for  Banks, 
is  also  gone ;  and  so  is  William  Walker  of  Pittsfield,  the 
truest  and  best  man  in  Berkshire,  without  fear  and  without 
reproach. 

GEORGE   S.    BOUTWELL. 

B.  G.  Northrop,  who  Avas  Boutwcll's  assistant  in  the  office 
of  the  Board  of  Education,  has  written  an  article  in  "The 
Independent,"  the  first  paragraph  of  which  resembles  the 
sonorous  style  of  Johnson.  "Among  the  sons  of  toil," 
says  Northrop,  "  are  man}'  minds  gifted  by  nature,  yet  dis- 
spirited  by  their  hard  lot  and  meagre  opportunities.  With 
their  tendencj'  to  despondency,  they  need  encouragement. 
To  such  minds  the  storj-  of  those  who  have  risen  from  hum- 
ble life  to  positions  of  influence  and  usefulness  ma}'  give  a 
healthful  stimulus,  without  awakening  visionarj'  aspirations. 
Such,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  historj'  of  George  S.  Bout- 
well." 

I  doubt  whether  Mr.  Ballon  or  Col.  Wright  could  find 
any  thing  better  than  this,  if  they  should  turn  bottom  upwards 
a  second  barrel  of  old  editorials.  I  have  seen  nothing  finer 
since  I  read  the  opening  chapter  of  "  Rasselas:  "   "  Listen 


430  "WARRINGTON: " 

to  the  story  of  Rasselas,  Prince  of  Abyssinia."  The 
beauty  of  this  is,  that  it  is  written  for  the  "  3'outhful  read- 
ers "  of  "The  Independent."  "  M3'  duties,"  sajs  North- 
rop, "are  much  with  the  3'oung,  as  well  as  for  the  3'oung. 
For  twent}'  j^ears  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  address,  on  au 
average,  over  thirty'  thousand  children  annualh-.  I  long  ago 
learned  that  youth  need  inspiration,  even  more  than  instruc- 
tion ;  "  and  so  on.  "My  duties,"  on  the  other  hand,  are 
niucli  with  the  middle-aged  ;  and  for  the  benetit  of  old  birds, 
who  are  not  caught  with  chaff,  let  me  reconstruct  some  por- 
tions of  this  biographer's  account  of  the  secretar3-,  with  such 
aid  as  my  own  memory  and  my  own  sources  of  information 
—  much  better,  b}-  the  wa}',  than  Mr.  Northrop's  —  have 
given  me ;  and,  as  I  am  confident  (as  I  have  been  all 
along)  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasurj'  will  be  Wilson's 
successor,  this  ma}'  help  to  make  up  the  inevitable  chapter 
of  biographv  which  all  enteiprising  newspapers  now  feel 
bound  to  print  when  a  distinguished  man  dies,  or  is  elected 
to  office. 

Mr.  Boutwell  was  born  in  the  town  of  Brookline,  Mass., 
in  January,  1818.  His  father  was  Mr.  Sewell  Boutwell, 
who  represented  Lunenburg  in  the  Constitutional  Convention 
in  1853  ;  and  George  was  in  a  store  in  Lunenburg  from  the 
age  of  thirteen  to  that  of  seventeen.  This  brings  him  to 
the  year  1835,  when  he  entered  a  store  in  Groton  ;  and,  as 
clerk  and  partner,  he  staid  there  many  j-ears.  That  he  im- 
proved his  time  and  opportunities  there  we  need  not  doubt. 
His  privations  do  not  seem  to  have  been  any  thing  so  great 
as  those  of  Henry  Wilson,  driven  by  stress  of  absolute 
poverty  from  Farmington  to  Natick  ;  but  otherwise  the  story 
is  not  unlike  that  of  Wilson,  and  it  is  that  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  other  bo3's  and  young  men  just  as  good  as 
either  of  them.  In  "  schooling  "  he  must  have  had  superior 
advantages  to  those  enjoyed  bj^  Wilson  ;  for  he  studied  Latin 
"  under  Dr.  A.  B.  Bancroft,"  whom  he  appointed  physician 
to  the  Chelsea  Marine  Hospital  four  or  five  j-ears  ago,  thus 
showing  his  gratitude,  although  increasing  the  bills  of  mor- 


I 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  431 

talit}'  of  that  institution,  which  had  been  previousl}'  well 
managed  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Graves  of  Lowell.  I  mean  his  gi'ati- 
tnde  to  both  doctors ;  for,  while  Bancroft  had  taught  the 
secretary  Latin,  Graves  had  been  a  most  faithful  friend  and 
supporter  in  politics.  Probabl}-,  in  a  doubtful  case  of  this 
nature.  Boutwell  felt  under  necessity  of  giving  the  place  to 
the  one  who  was  likely  to  carry  out  his  economical  s3-stem 
b}'  discouraging  the  introduction  of  new  patients  pro  rata 
with  the  increase  of  the  death-rate  before  mentioned. 

He  was  a  politician  earlj-,  being  actively-  for  Van  Buren  in 
1840.  I  find,  by  referring  to  Butler's  "  History  of  Groton," 
that  that  town  gave  a  hundred  and  eight3--five  Whig  and  a 
hundred  and  seventy-three  Democratic  votes  in  that  year. 
The  yeax  before,  however,  it  gave  a  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  Democratic  and  only  a  hundred  and  twenty-two  Whig 
votes ;  and  as  far  back  as  1835,  when  Boutwell  made  his 
appearance  in  Groton,  the  vote  was  a  hundred  and  thirty 
Whig  and  sixtj'-eight  Democratic.  This  confirms  the  old 
accounts  I  used  to  hear  of  Groton  politics  from  such  men  as 
Jack  Graves  (the  butcher),  John  Boynton,  Jokn  C.  Park, 
and  others,  that  Boutwell  had  gradually  organized  the  Demo- 
cratic part}-,  which  was,  when  he  went  there,  scattered  in 
the  outskirts, — those  grogg}'  Alsatias,  of  which  at  that 
time  Groton  had  its  full  share,  —  and  had  brought  them 
together  under  his  skilful  leadership,  and  half  the  3'ears,  at 
least,  successfully  contested  the  field  with  the  aristocratic  old 
set  who  had  ruled  it  so  long. 

In  1842-44,  1847-50,  he  was  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Here  he  got  that  practice  in  debate  which  is  his  best 
talent.  "  He  has  trained  himself  to  think  on  his  legs." 
There  have  been  in  our  legislature  but  veiT  few  better  de- 
baters. Rantoul  must  have  been  his  superior ;  for,  with 
equal  readiness  "on  his  legs,"  he  had  a  much  finer  mind, 
and  much  greater  fertilitj-  of  illustration.  Seven  years  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  in  perpetual  contest  with 
such  men  as  the  Whigs  used  to  send  there,  was  a  better 
school  for  a  young  politician  than  a   man   is  often   lucky 


432  "WARRINGTON:" 


I 


enough  to  get ;  and  it  is  no  great  wonder,  that,  when  1850 
came,  he  "was,  on  the  whole,  the  most  promising  candi- 
date of  his  party  for  governor.  This  was  the  time  of  all 
others,  also,  for  a  rising  man.  Boutwell  had  never  been 
aught  but  an  old-line  Democrat,  —  a  thorough  party  hack, 
flinching  not  at  Texas  annexation,  nor  at  the  denial  of  the 
right  of  petition,  but,  of  course,  keeping  his  eyes  open  to  the 
advance  of  that  part}',  which,  in  1839,  cast  307  votes  (de- 
nominated scattering)  ;  in  1840,  cast  1,081  for  Mr.  George 
W.  Johnson;  in  1841,  cast  3,488  for  Mr.  Lucius  Boltwood ; 
in  1842,  cast  6,382  for  Mr.  Samuel  E.  Sewall ;  and  so  on  up 
to  1849,  when  it  had  advanced  Mr.  Sewall's  vote  to  9,193, 
and  which,  the  next  j'ear,  had  nominated  Stephen  C.  Phil- 
lips, and  given  to  him  36,000  votes.  This  last  vote  must 
have  admonished  Boutwell  that  there  was  a  force  in  politics 
stronger  than  the  old  Mortonized-Sam.-C.-Allen-^Yhitmarsh- 
and-Rautoul  Democracj'.  It  did  not  make  him  a  Free- 
Soiler ;  but  it  made  him  willing  to  receive  Free-Soil  votes. 
Indeed,  he  was  never  a  bigot  on  such  a  question  as  this. 
No  close-communion  theories,  no  strictness  of  ecclesiastical 
organization,  ever  got  mixed  with  that  free,  catholic  open- 
mindedness  which  characterized  him  as  a  political  man. 
"Was  there  ever  a  candidate  for  office,  indeed,  who  ever 
scrutinized  very  closelj'  the  creed  or  other  qualifications  of 
those  who  seemed  inclined  to  support  him?  In  this  respect, 
Boutwell  was  like  all  other  men. 

Pie  was  not  averse  to  "the  coalition."  The  formula  of 
"William  Jackson  (one  of  the  best  of  men,  though  he  an- 
nounced this  doctrine  in  offensive  phrase),  that  "it  will  not 
do  to  be  too  perpendicular  for  the  sake  of  principle,"  found 
read}-  assent  in  him,  as  in  Wilson,  Baulks,  and  most  of  the 
other  Democratic  and  Free-Soil  leaders.  Of  course,  I  can- 
not tell  the  story  of  the  coalition.  It  elected  Boutwell  gov- 
ernor ;  though  he  had  only  some  43,000  popular  votes,  to 
60,000  or  more  for  the  Whigs,  and  36,000  for  the  Free- 
Soilcrs.  My  figures  are  from  memor}-,  and  may  more 
nearly  apply  to  his  second  year  ;  but  they  are  not  much  out  fl|  ^  i 


PEK-POR  TRAITS. 


433 


of  the  wa3\  Ilis  inaugural  was  short,  timid,  and  feeble, 
containing  an  old-fashioned  protest  against  meddling  with 
slavery  or  resisting  the  Fugitive-slave  Law,  and  some  plati- 
tudes in  favor  of  freedom  generally,  and  the  restriction  of 
slavery  to  its  old  boundaries.  Mr.  Sumner  was  chosen 
senator  with  great  diffloult}',  and  on  the  twenty-sixth  ballot. 
The  next  j-ear  the  game  was  succossfullj-  repeated,  as  far  as 
Boutwell  was  concerned.  The  great  event  of  his  second 
year  was  the  passage  of  the  first  Maine  Liquor  Law.  The 
governor  vetoed  it  because  it  did  not  provide  for  the  approval 
or  disapproval  of  the  people  at  the  polls  by  secret  ballot. 
The  two  houses  then  passed  it  without  submitting  the  ques- 
tion in  an}'  form ;  and  he  signed  it :  at  which  there  was  a 
great  laugh,  and  a  general  expression  of  contempt.  Other- 
wise his  administration  was  a  prudent,  successful,  and  cred- 
itable one. 

Among  his  appointments  was  that  of  Thomas  Russell  as 
Judge  of  the  Police  Court  of  Boston,  and  Caleb  Cushing  as 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Being  an  ultra  devotee  of  the 
proslavor^-  interest,  Cushing' s  nomination  was  very  unac- 
ceptable to  the  Free-Soilers ;  and  the  Council,  which  had  a 
majority  of  Free-Soilers,  determined  to  reject  it.  Five  min- 
utes before  the  vote  was  taken,  one  of  the  Free-Soil  coun- 
cillors, who  was  opposed  to  Cushing,  was  called  into  the 
ante-room ;  and  when  he  got  back  the  roll  was  called,  and 
Cushing  was  confirmed  b}-  one  vote. 

To  maintain  their  power,  and  to  reform  the  Constitu- 
tion, the  coalition  resolved  on  a  convention  ;  and  the  people 
called  it  in  the  fall  of  1852,  though  the}'  elected  Clitford 
governor  at  the  same  time.  Boutwell  was  unexpected!}' 
beaten  in  Grotou  by  John  C.  Park,  but  got  in  afterward 
from  one  of  the  rotten  boroughs,  —  the  town  of  Berlin. 
Mr.  Northrop  says,  "  Mr.  Choate  was  his  leading  opponent." 
There  were  plenty  of  Whigs  there  v;ho  had  more  influence 
than  Mr.  Choate,  and  some  coalitionists  who  were  not  le&s 
influential  than  Boutwell.  It  is  true  that  he  spoke  .veil, 
took  and  maintained  a  leading  position,  and  made  an  able 


.4 


43  4  "  WARRINGTON:  "■ 

answer  to  Choate's  speech  on  the  district-system.  Nobody, 
except,  perhaps,  Mr.  Dana,  showed  a  better  talent  for  de- 
bate. Butler  appeared  here  to  better  advantage  than  ever 
before  or  since.  Sumner  and  old  Gov.  Morton  also  defended 
an  equal  system  of  representation  ;  but  Boutwell,  Wilson, 
Griswold,  and  the  rotten-borough  men,  carried  their  point, 
though  the  people  rejected  their  work,  and  three  or  four 
years  after,  b}'  general  consent,  decided  that  Sumner, 
Morton,  and  Choate  were  right.  Boutwell,  who  went  for 
abolishing  the  life-tenure  of  the  judiciary-  (the  best  thing  he 
did  there) ,  was  strong  for  the  secret  ballot,  and  was  useful 
in  matters  of  form  and  detail.  When  the  Constitution  was 
rejected,  his  condition  was  not  quite  so  wretched  and  abject 
as  that  of  Wilson.  Pierce  had  been  chosen  President,  and 
Boutwell  had  never  forfeited  his  position  in  the  Democratic 
part}'.  He  applied  for  the  ofSce  of  postmaster  of  Boston, 
but  did  not  get  it.  In  1854  he  wrote  a  brief  letter,  objecting 
to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  then  waited 
for  events. 

Northrop  savs  he  was  "a  leader  in  the  organization  of 
the  Eepublican  part}'  of  Massachusetts."  This  is  a  mistake. 
He  was  not  heard  of  in  that  organization  at  all  —  certainly 
not  in  an}' place  of  prominence  —  in  1854-57.  These  were 
the  years  which  witnessed  the  struggle  for  the  formation  of 
the  party.  He  appeared  as  a  candidate  for  office  again, 
however,  in  1858,  three  years  after  the  Republicans  had 
passed  through  the  Know-Nothing  imbroglio,  two  years  after 
they  had  given  Fremont  the  vote  of  the  State  by  an  immense 
majority,  and  one  year  after  Gardner  himself  had  been  sent 
into  retirement ;  and  by  this  time  the  party  may  be  said  to 
have  been  tolerably  well  upon  its  legs.  He  was  beaten  by 
Mr.  Train,  and  had  to  wait  a  while  longer.  Mr  Lincoln 
then  gave  him  the  office  of  commissioner  of  revenue.  He 
got  into  Congress  afterward,  and,  in  1866,  was  made  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury. 

His  biographer  truly  says  that  no  other  man  living  in  the 
State  has  held  so  many  offices.    This  is  a  tribute  to  his  ability 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  435 

and  usefulness  as  a  public  man ;  for  no  man  e^'er  had  fewer 
personal  friends.  Cold,  selfish,  intellectual,  he  never  did 
an}'  thing  for  an3-body  upon  anj-  spasm  of  impulse,  or  freak 
of  generosity.  As  a  treasurer,  he  has  the  same  talent  which 
made  him  successful  as  a  grocer,  and  since  as  a  farmer.  The 
stor}-  goes  that  Gen.  Grant  appointed  A.  T.  Stewart  to  the 
treasury"  department  because  he  had  heard  of  his  wonderful 
success  in  organizing  the  biggest  dry-goods  house  in  Amer- 
ica. This  experiment  failing,  he  tried  Boutwell  on  the 
strength  of  a  conversation  with  him,  in  which  Boutwell  told 
him  that  one  j-ear  he  sold  thirty-five  bushels  of  chestnuts  off 
his  Groton  farm.  If  he  could  not  have  the  great  organizer, 
he  would  take  the  small  economizer.  The  secretary  is  an 
honest  man  pecuniarih',  a  just  man  in  all  the  ordinar}'  rela- 
tions of  life.  In  1853  he  was  an  ultra  state-rights,  cit}'- 
rights,  town-rights  man :  now  he  represents  the  idea  of 
centralization  and  consolidation,  and  has  no  scruple  as  to 
the  constitutionalit}'  of  measures,  provided  the}'  seem  neces- 
sar}-  to  subserve  what  he  deems  the  general  welfiire,  and 
tend  to  keep  the  tx-easurj-  full  and  the  debt  from  increasing, 
no  matter  whether  the  people  are  crushed  by  unnecessary 
and  unequal  taxation,  or  relieved  from  it. 

N.    p.    BANKS. 

N.  P.  Banks's  early  life  is  lost  in  the  dim  mystery  of 
tradition  ;  for  his  history-  as  a  machinist  and  bobbin-bo}'  is  a 
doubtful  legend,  for  the  most  part  manufactured  for  cam- 
paign-purposes. I  do  not  mean  by  this  that  he  did  not 
work  in  the  shop  and  factory  ;  but  he  did  not  hurt  himself 
with  work.  The  stor}'  that  he  lilicd  to  travel  to  Cambridge 
to  borrow  boolvs  is  much  more  lilceh*.  He  was  earlv  on  the 
Democratic  side;  got  into  the  Custom  House  carl}-;  and, 
before  1842,  edited  the  Democratic  paper  in  Lowell  a  while. 
He  was  poor,  and,  I  have  been  told,  used  to  walk  home  from 
Lowell  to  TValtham  on  Saturday-,  and  to  Lowell  again  on 
Moaday.  It  is  said  tliat  he  also  edited  a  paper  in  Woburn  ; 
but  he  had   no  talent  for  editorial  work,  nor  for  the   bar, 


436  "  WARRINGTON: " 

although  he  studied  law,  and  appeared  in  one  or  two  cases. 
Waltham  was  a  Whig  place  in  those  daj's,  and  did  not  favor 
Banks's  attempt  to  get  into  the  legislature:  it  defeated  him 
once  or  twice  ;  but  at  last  he  was  chosen  to  the  House,  and 
from  that  time  he  never  failed  to  carry  a  majority  of  the 
"Waltham  voters. 

I  do  not  remember  the  precise  circumstances  of  his  first 
election  to  Congress  ;  but  it  was,  if  not  directh^,  j-et  substan- 
tially, by  a  union  of  Free-Soilers  and  Democrats,  and,  I 
believe,  as  some  sort  of  a  compensation  for  Democratic 
support  to  Dr.  Palfrey,  then  a  Free-Soil  candidate  in  a 
neighboring  district.  The  coalition  found  him  ready  to  co- 
operate in  overthrowing  the  Whigs.  When  John  Quincy 
Adams  died,  in  1848,  as  Banks  marched  on  foot  at  the 
funeral,  while  the  old  Whig  magnates  rode  in  the  carriages, 
he  said  to  his  neighbor,  —  blaspheming,  I  fear,  at  the  same 
time,  —  "B3'  and  bj-  3-ou  and  I  will  ride  in  these  carriages, 
and  these  fellows  will  go  on  foot  as  we  do  now."  And  so 
it  was. 

We  come  now  to  1854.  The  Know-Nothing  had  a  dread 
of  the  politicians,  especiallj*  of  the  Democratic  politicians 
who  had  received  ofBce  by  Irish  support.  They  were  over- 
reached b}-  the  nomination  of  Gardner,  a  Whig  of  no  ver}- 
high  reputation.  Wilson  had  made  himself  useful  to  them, 
and  thc}'  were  grateful  and  friendl}'  to  him.  But  Banks  — 
well,  no  ;  on  the  whole,  no.  The  Rev.  Lj'man  Whiting,  an 
Orthodox  clergj-man  of  proved  hostilit}'  to  the  Pope,  was 
preferred  in  the  secret  conclave  ;  as,  in  other  districts,  Rev. 
Mark  Trafton,  Rev.  Robert  B.  Hall,  Damrell,  Comins, 
Chaffee,  Davis,  and  other  enemies  of  the  scarlet  woman,  had 
also  been  successful.  DeWitt  of  Worcester,  and  Anson 
Burlingame,  were  the  onl}-  politicians  of  any  repute  who 
passed  the  ordeal,  if  I  remember  rightl}'.  Banks  was,  the 
morning  after,  in  a  desperate  strait,  —  poor,  and  with  the 
certainty  of  losing  his  seat  in  Congress.  But  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Whiting  was  induced  to  withdraw  his  claim.  Banks,  though 
he  probabl}'  never  placed  himself  on  record,  gave  the  coun- 


•  PEir-PORTRAITS.  437 

oils  in  his  district  to  understand  that  the  Pope  would  have 
no  quarter  from  liim  ;  and  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  "Wash- 
ington. 

I  believe  he  supported  Rockwell  in  1855  ;  and  in  185G  he 
and  Wilson,  for  the  sake  of  forming  a  sectional  part^-  on 
Fremont  and  Da3-ton,  crammed  Gardner  down  for  the  third 
3'ear,  with  additional  blaspheni}-:  The  next  j'ear,  Banks 
swore  himself  through  against  Gardner ;  served  three  years 
as  governor,  exhibiting  on  an  excellent  field  again  his  talents 
as  a  histrion.  He  promptl}-  acceded  to  the  request  of  the 
legislature  to  remove  Judge  Loring,  and  vetoed  three  bushel- 
baskets  full  of  parchment-rolls,  containing  the  revision  of 
the  statutes,  because  the  word  "white"  had  been  struck 
out  of  the  militia  chapter.  At  the  end  of  the  term,  and  all 
through  his  term,  he  was  praised  for  great  "  executive  abili- 
t}- ;  "  but  carpers  and  doubters  never  saw  wherein  it  consisted. 
In  the  fall  of  1860  he  went  to  Illinois,  receiving  an  offer  of 
seven  thousand  dollars  a  3'ear  from  Mr.  Osborn  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central,  who  wanted  him  as  a  star  actor  before  the 
legislature  of  the  State,  and  for  other  purposes.  When  the 
war  broke  out,  he  offered  himself  to  the  government,  served 
patrioticall}'  and  to  the  best  of  his  abilit}'  during  the  war, 
and,  at  its  close,  found  his  old  district  tr3"ing  to  select  a  man 
in  place  of  Mr.  Gooch,  who  had  resigned  to  take  a  more  lu- 
crative place  in  the  Custom  House.  The  choice  was  between 
J.  Q.  A.  Griffin  and  James  M.  Stone.  Banks  appeared  like 
a  spectre,  and  took  awa}-  the  nomination  from  both. 

Banks's  talent  is  histrionic.  His  skill  as  a  presiding- 
officer  exhibits  this  talent,  which  ma}',  perhaps,  be  staled  a 
genius  for  being  looked  at.  His  presence  of  mind  seldom 
fails  him  ;  his  voice  is  al\va3-s  rich,  and  in  good  order  ;  and 
his  vocabular}'  easil}-  arranges  itself  into  sentences  which 
mean  little  or  nothing,  though  I  have  known  his  words,  b}' 
accident,  to  fall  into  their  proper  connections,  and  to  convey 
sense  as  well  as  information.  He  is  not  a  warm-hearted 
person,  and  was  never  known  to  go  out  of  his  wa3-  an  inch 
to  confer  a  favor  on  a  friend  or  supporter,  unless  another 


I 


438  "WABRmOTOX:"  ' 

and  a  greater  favor  was  expected  at  a  future  period.  I  have 
spoken  of  his  general  success  in  whatever  he  undertakes ; 
but  I  think  his  essays  in  the  editorial  and  legal  professions 
are  exceptions  to  the  rule.  For  a  short  time  he  had  charge 
of  "  The  Lowell  Advertiser,  or  Patriot,"  a  Democratic 
paper  ;  but  I  could  never  discover  any  remarkable  abilit}'  in 
it  at  that  time.  He  was  born  for  a  talker,  not  a  writer.  As 
a  stump-speaker  on  the  Democratic  side,  he  earlj-  had  a  high 
rank ;  and  he  has  maintained  it  to  this  time.  Few  men 
appear  better  on  the  political  platform.  I  do  not  think  he 
is  a  great  worker  or  a  deep  student.  He  is  a  man  of  intui- 
tions, rather  than  of  stud}-  and  contemplation.  His  decis- 
ions as  presiding-officer  never  seemed  to  be  the  result  of 
research  into  precedents :  he  decided  according  to  the  exi- 
gency, and  trusted  to  find  the  reasons  and  precedents  after- 
ward, and  alwaj's  succeeded.  It  is  common  to  speali  of  his 
great  and  unrivalled  success  as  a  politician.  It  does  not 
seem  to  me  to  have  been  very  gTcat.  His  merit  as  a  presid- 
ing-officer made  him  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
two  years,  and  president  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1853.  The  same  quality  made  him  speaker  of  the  United- 
States  House,  at  a  time  when  his  peculiar  political  position 
—  one-third  Democrat,  one-third  American,  and  one-third 
Republican  —  pointed  him  out  as  the  available  man.  The 
friendship  of  the  Free-Soilers,  won  b}'  his  own  tendency- 
toward  liberal  principles,  gave  him  a  seat  in  Congress.  But 
his  Americanism,  on  the  whole,  has  been  the  great  blunder  of 
his  life,  although  b}-  it  he  was  chosen  governor.  It  was  con- 
trary to  the  principles  of  his  youth,  and  the  principles  he 
had  alwaj's  professed  ;  and  no  man  can  disregard  these  with 
impunity. 

Banks  is  a  man  of  the  people,  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  he  is  a  live  man  :  he  was  a  "  bobbin-boy  "  in  his  youth, 
and  lias  been  "  bobbin'  around  "  ever  since.  His  good  luck 
is  equal  to  Guy's,  in  Emerson's  poem:  — 

"Early  or  late,  the  falling  rain 
Arrived  in  time  to  swell  bis  grain ; 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  439 

Stream  could  not  so  perversely  wind, 
But  corn  of  Guy's  was  there  to  grind; 
The  siroc  found  it  on  its  way 
To  speed  his  sails,  to  dry  his  hay; 
And  the  world's  sun  seemed  to  rise 
To  drudge  all  day  for  Guy  the  Wise." 

•      EX-MAJOR-GEN.    B.    F.    BUTLER    IN    1871. 

Gen.  Butler  represents  as  well  as  am-  man  in  the  countiy 
that  worst  —  I  might  almost  sa}'  that  only  vicious  —  principle 
of  our  present  affairs, — the  tendenc}'  toward  personal  gov- 
ernment, instead  of  a  government  of  politics.  This  tendenc}' 
has  grown  up  since  the  Rebellion  was  over.  Eldest  born  of 
Shoddy,  b}'  War,  it  will  die,  by  and  b}',  no  doubt ;  but  mean- 
while it  is  lust}-  and  vigorous,  and  disgustingl}-  healthy.  For 
a  man  of  such  immense  intellectual  ability  and  vitalit}',  he 
is  the  greatest  piece  of  follj'  known  to  American  politics. 
He  has  lost  within  the  last  four  or  five  j'cars  about  all  he 
gained  during  the  five  or  six  jears  before  that.  Hardl}-  an}' 
man  has  been  so  befriended  b}'  circumstances  and  tlie  course 
of  events.  His  radical  positions  on  antislaveiy  questions 
during  the  war,  —  i.e.,  after  he  got  over  the  notion  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  keep  the  peculiar  institution  alive  in  Maiy- 
land,  —  his  hanging  of  Mumford,  his  vigorous  administration 
of  affairs  at  New  Orleans,  his  generall}'  consistent  course  on 
reconstruction,  the  hatred  with  which  he  was  endowed  by 
the  rebel  leaders  and  the  copperheads,  all  helped  him  in  the 
outset.  This  gave  him  an  election  to  Congress  without  a 
struggle,  and  in  spite  of  some  theories  which  shocked  the 
conservatives  of  Massachusetts.  But  in  Congress  he  has 
been  a  mere  sensationalist  and  gladiator ;  and,  during  the 
vacations,  he  has  done  nothing  but  make  speeches  without 
rh^me  or  reason.  Butler  lives  for  a  day  and  a  minute,  for  a 
cit}',  town,  or  ward,  not  for  a  people  and  for  all  time.  In  a 
w-orJ,  he  has  no  sense,  and  I  fear  he  never  will  have.  This 
is  sure  to  be  regretted,  because  he  has  at  bottom  a  good 
many  good  notions.  He  is  a  radical,  and  always  was.  He 
is  never  blinded  by  fallacies  unless  he  chooses  to  be.     He  is 


440  ''WARRINGTON:" 

never  intellectually  cheated,  however  willing  he  may  be  intel- 
lectually to  cheat  other  men. 

If  Butler  were  an  honest-minded  and  unselfish  man,  and 
with  even  a  reasonable  degree  of  sensationalism,  he  would 
be  immensely  useful  in  this  country'.  "The  Newburjport 
Herald  ' '  tries  to  make  him  the  leader  of  the  new  Republi- 
can departure.  No  person  is  so  unfit  for  such  a  leadership, 
or  for  any  leadership.  "  Press  where  3"ou  see  his  white 
plume  shine,"  quotha?  It  is  impossible  to  press  after  it.  It 
is  in  one  part  of  the  field  this  minute,  and  in  another  part 
next ;  one  moment  dashing  against  enemies,  and  the  next 
moment  against  friends,  and  the  next  hiding  itself  in  some 
intrigue  about  a  corporalship,  to  the  utter  disregard  of  how 
the  battle  goes,  whether  for  or  against  them.  What  rcA'cnue 
reformer  could  trust  and  ride  after  such  a  man?  what  labor 
reformer?  what  temperance  reformer?  what  radical  of  any 
sort?  As  a  governor,  if  you  can  imagine  him  elected,  he 
Avould  propose  two  absurd  things  for  everj^  good  one ; 
compel  the  laughter  of  the  people,  and  opposition  of  the 
legislature ;  multiply  dead-locks  and  permanent  quarrels ; 
and  finall}'  retire  at  his  j-ear's  end  with  unanimous  consent, 
or  defeat  which  should  be  memorable  as  that  of  the  Paris 
commune  itself- 

"Warrington's"  reply  to  butler. 
The  "  personal  collision,"  hand  to  hand,  which  Gen.  But- 
ler sa^-s  he  had  with  me  some  "  twent3--five  ^-ears  ago,"  was 
just  this.  I  think  it  was  in  1842  that  I  had  reported  for 
"  The  Lowell  Courier  "  (of  which  I  was  the  assistant  editor) 
a  verj'  seal}-  and  disreputable  trick  b}'  which  Butler  had  got 
a  criminal  released  from  the  prisoner's  dock  in  Concord  court- 
house.^ I  had  returned  to  my  post,  and  was  one  day  sitting 
at  m}'  table,  writing,  when  Butler  entered,  and  asked  who 
wrote  the  report.  I  told  him  I  wrote  it.  He  asked  me  if  I 
would  retract.     I  replied,  tliat,  if  he  would  satisfy  me  that  I 

1  See  Appendix  C. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  441 

had  made  any  misstatement,  I  would  correct  it.  That  did 
not  content  him  ;  and  he  again  demanded  to  Icnow  if  I  would 
retract.  "Certainly  not,"  said  I.  Whereupon,  I  being 
still  seated  at  my  desk,  and  he  standing  beside  me,  he  brought 
down  his  hand,  and,  striking  my  spectacles,  knocked  them 
upon  the  floor.  Whereupon  Col.  Schouler,  editor  of  "  The 
Courier,"  who  had  been  standing  by,  an  amazed  listener, 
turned  Butler  out  of  the  office.  To  do  him  justice,  he  was 
not  reluctant  to  go  :  on  the  contrarj',  his  evolutions  toward 
the  door,  and  down  the  stairs  into  the  street,  were  performed 
with  a  celerity  which  gave  rise  to  the  impression  that  he 
feared  the  colonel's  boot  would  re-enforce  the  order  to  quit. 
The  city  laughed  about  the  account  which  we  gave  of  the 
"  collision."  Everybody  said  it  was  characteristic  of  Butler  ; 
and  I  never  supposed  it  would  be  used  to  point  a  moral  in 
relation  to  "The  Springlield  Republican's  "  hostility  to  him. 
I  doubt,  indeed,  whether  an}'  one  connected  with  that  paper 
ever  heard  of  the  "collision  "  before:  so  it  could  not  have 
contributed  to  the  general's  unpopularity  in  that  office. 

As  for  me,  —  wh}',  I  have  suffered  for  years  under  the  repu- 
tation of  being  "  a  Butler  man."  Butler  and  I  were  elected 
to  the  legislature,  ten  years  after  this  occurrence,  on  the 
same  ticket.  I  remember  it  well ;  for  he  was  a  dreadful  load 
for  the  party  to  carr}-.  "The  New- York  Natiou  "  twitted 
me  with  supporting  Butler  when  he  was  elected  to  Congress ; 
and  indeed  it  was  on  this  very  account  that  I  came  near 
quarrelling  with  ni}'  friend  Gen.  Ilawlcy,  whose  pa[)er,  "  The 
Hartford  Courant,"  I  partially'  had  charge  of  in  tlie  fall  of 
18G8.  I  told  Hawlc}'  he  ought  to  let  the  Massachusetts 
Republicans  figlit  their  own  battles  and  manage  their  own 
affairs.  No :  he  insisted  on  pronouncing  against  Butler. 
He  said  he  was  a  demagogue.  "Well,  everybody-  knew 
that."  —  "He  was  a  blackguard."  —  "  Of  course  he  was." 
—  "  He  Avas  a  scamp  and  a  disorganizcr  gonerall}."  I  could 
not  den^-it.  But  still  1  insisted,  that,  if  P^ssex  County  wanted 
him,  it  ought  to  be  allowed  to  take  him  ;  and  on  the  whole, 
if  he  could  be  confined  there,  so  much  the  better  for  us  gen- 
erall}'  throughout  the  State. 


I 


442  "WARRINGTON: 


This  is  not  the  oul}^  time  I  have  suffered  on  Butler's 
account.  One  jqqx  we  asked  him  to  preside  at  the  Republi- 
can State  Convention.  I  was  not  guilty  in  this  more  than 
others  ;  but,  as  I  was  secretary'  of  the  committee,  I  was  blamed 
for  it.  Meeting  Gov.  Andrew  one  day  on  Tremont  Street, 
he,  after  "  passing  the  time  o'  da}-,"  asked  rather  gi'uffl}^  wh}' 
the  committee  had  invited  "  that  scoundrel  Butler"  to  pre- 
side. I  gave  some  excuse,  and  added,  "You  know,  gov- 
ernor, that  we  invited  3'ou;  but  you  declined."  —  "Well," 
said  he  with  an  emphatic  sort  of  grunt,  "  if  I  had  supposed 
yon  would  have  been  fools  enough  to  ask  Butler,  I  would 
have  accepted."  I  respected  his  honest,  well-grounded, 
intelligent  opinion,  and  did  not  press  mine  upon  him  an}' 
further. 

So  in  the  legislature,  when  an  election  for  major-general 
of  the  militia  took  place,  and  the  "  conservatives  "  were 
trying  to  defeat  Butler  for  his  radicalism  by  running  Gen. 
Bartlett,  I  did  what  I  could  for  the  former ;  and,  whatever 
may  be  the  opinion  of  military  authorities  in  relation  to  Big 
Bethel  and  Fort  Fisher,  nobody  can  deny,  that,  as  was  said 
of  one  of  our  former  governors,  "he  did  well  at  Concord." 
I  know  of  no  man  who  carries  on  a  fight  where  they  fire  only 
powder  better  than  Butler.^     So  I  have  never  regretted  the  ■ 

support  I  gave  him  for  the  major-generalship :  and  he  was 
apparently  very  grateful  for  it,  and  acknowledged  the  favor 
by  a  neat  letter  and  a  present ;  I  can  hardly  call  it  a  hand- 
some one,  it  being  merely  his  photograph.  Butler  can  hardly 
make  out  a  connection  between  tlie  "  collision  "  thirty  years 
ago  or  so  and  "The  Republican's"  hostility  to  him.  He 
succeeds,  however,  quite  as  well  as  in  most  of  his  attempts 
at  a  logical  solution  of  the  mystery  which  surrounds  the 
opposition  of  the  press  to  his  nomination.  Indeed,  there  is 
no  mystery  in  it  to  the  "  average  "  mind.  Butler  is  simply  a 
political  and  social  nuisance ;  and  that  is  all  there  is  about 
him. 

1  He  is  the  only  one  of  our  generals  who  has  been  so  lavish  of  his 
powder  aa  to  fii-e  it  by  the  shipload. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  443 

BUTLER    AS     JUDGE    AND     EXECUTIONER     OF   THE    REPUBLICAN 

PARTY. ^ 

"Judge  and  executioner,"  —  this  is  in  accordance  ■with 
Butler's  own  notions  as  to  the  functions  lie  expects  to  per- 
form when  he  is  elected  governor  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Heretofore  these  functions  have  been  kept  distinct :  the 
legislature  has  made  the  laws,  the  judge  has  tried  and 
passed  sentence,  and  the  sheriff  has  hanged  the  culprit.  But 
•what  is  the  Constitution  to  Butler?  If  he  is  to  be  "judge 
and  executioner"  of  a  party^  wh}^  not  of  a  State  govern- 
ment? and,  if  judge  and  executioner,  why  not  legislator  also? 
This  whole  theory  of  Butler's  fitness  for  the  governorship  is 
built  up  on  his  supposed  fitness  for  dealing  with  turbulent 
communities.  He  did  well  at  New  Orleans :  so  he  will  do 
well  here.  He  executed  Mumford  :  so  he  will  have  a  drum- 
head court-martial  in  the  anteroom  of  the  Council  Chamber. 
He  helped  frame  the  reconstruction  acts  for  the  government 
of  the  Ku-Klux :  so  he  will  govern  the  million  and  a  half 
respectable  people  of  Massachusetts  quietly.  Very  well. 
When  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth  are  willing  to 
acknowledge  that  the}^  are  like  the  rebels  of  New  Orleans 
and  the  Ku-Klux  of  Georgia,  the}'  may  be  willing  to  ask  for 
Butler's  great  executive  powers  as  a  ruler  over  them ;  but 
not  before.  And  let  the  laboring-men  beware  lest  the}'  get 
more  than  the}-  have  bargained  for  in  this  man.  He  is  not, 
like  one  of  the  sans-culottes  of  Paris,  ready  to  lead  a  mob 
of  prostitutes  and  ruffians  to  the  sacking  of  rich  men's 
houses,  but  (as  he  says)  the  owner  of  a  major  part  of  the 
stock  in  one  corporation  and  of  part  of  another,  and  an 
enemy  of  strikes,  who  (to  come  back  to  Phillips)  simply 
proposes  to  be  "judge  and  executioner"  of  the  Republican 
party. 

This  is  all ;  and  this  is  precisel}'  what  I  have  said  here- 
tofore when  I  have  traced  his  connection  with  the  conspiracy 

1  ''The  Republican  party  knows  that  its  judge  and  executioner  has 
come."  —  "Wexdell  PmLLU's  at  Salisbury  Beach,  Sept.  14. 


li 


444  "WARIilXGTOJST:" 

of  1870.  Read  Phillips's  speech.  It  confirms  every  word 
that  I  have  said  as  to  that  event,  and  more.  It  has  wider 
bearings  than  last  ^-ear.  Mr.  Richard  Spofford  introduced 
the  orator  at  Salisbiuy,  styling  him  "Gov.  Butler."  Who 
is  Mr.  Spofford?  Alwa^'s  and  now  a  Democrat.  More  than 
half  Butler's  caucuses  are  made  up  of  members  of  that  party 
and  of  Phillips  men.  Not  even  a  gathering  of  gentlemen 
and  ladies  at  a  family'  part}'  like  the  Salisbury-beach  festival, 
a  part}'  to  which  such  men  as  Gov.  Claflin,  and  Gov.  Weston 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  John  Quinc}-  Adams,  were  invited 
(who,  if  they  had  been  present,  would  have  been  gi-ossly 
insulted  by  the  ruffianism  of  the  speeches) ,  is  free  from  this 
raid  of  Butlerites.  The}'  are  the  crowd  come  to  view  the 
hanging.  The  flower  of  Essex,  the  beauty  and  literary  skill 
of  Newburyport  and  Beverly  and  Salem,  gather  at  Salis- 
bury Beach,  Avhile  the  clown,  as  in  Shakspeare's  play,  says, 
"Awake,  Master  Barnardine !  get  up  and  be  hanged." 
"  Behold,  Master  Republican  Party,  your  judge  and  execu- 
tioner!  " 

Well,  we  were  summoned  to  be  hanged  last  year ;  but,  like 
Barnardine,  we  said,  "  Go  away,  you  rogue !  "  and  we  got  a 
reprieve  for  a  twelvemonth.  The  clown  himself  proposed 
to  hang  us  then  ;  and  finally,  when  he  concluded  to  let  us  off, 
he  notified  us  that  there  would  be  a  more  peremptory  hang- 
man in  1871.  And  the  grim  Butler  appears.  He  says,  that, 
when  elected  governor,  he  will  "  execute  the  laws ;  "  and  it 
seems  that  he  imagines  his  oath  of  oflSce  comprehends  an 
execution  of  all  the  men  who  make  the  laws,  as  Avell  as  the 
laws  themselves.  For  every  rumseller  who  is  jugged  in 
Sheriff  Clark's  jail,  a  Republican  oflaceholder  is  to  be  trussed 
up.  The  whole  party  is  to  be  made  an  example  of;  and  a 
hundred  thousand  voters,  more  or  less,  are  to  "  flash  their 
ivories  in  Surgeons'  Hall"  as  soon  as  Jack  Ketch  has  done 
his  perfect  work  on  them.  Phillips  is  to  listen  to  the 
last  wail  of  the  condemned ;  and  when  he  hears  that  the 
Republican  party  is  dead  and  buried,  "and  that  the  people 
have  strangled  the  press  in  one  hand  and  the  moneyed  corpo- 


PEX-PORTliAITS.  445 

rations  in  tlie  otlier,"  he  ?,SLys  he  "  shall  say  Amen,  so  be  it ; 
gloiy  to  God  ! "  and,  after  this  pious  ejaculation,  he  will  go 
home  and  revamp  his  lecture  on  "the  Lost  Arts,"  includ- 
ing the  art  of  printing  among  these  old  and^ discredited 
humbugs. 

TTell,  all  this  balderdash  and  Butlerdash  of  "Wendell 
Phillips  is  b}-  no  means  vrithout  a  meaning.  I  have  alread}' 
shown  that  the  Butler  movement  of  1871  is  but  a  second  and 
enlarged  and  larger-papered  and  more  wideh'-margined  edi- 
tion of  the  Butlor-Phillips  movement  of  1870.  I  have  quoted 
already  what  Phillips  said  before  the  election  of  1871:  "I 
will  step  aside  next  year,  and  show  ^'ou  a  real  governor."  I 
have  requoted  the  European  maxim,  changed  to  suit  the 
modern  exigency,  "  Scratch  Phillips,  and  yow  find  Butler 
beneath."  The}'  mean  the  same  thing.  Phillips  is  trying 
to  kill  the  Republican  part}-  from  the  outside ;  Butler,  from 
the  inside.  Phillips  adores  Butler,  and  thiuivs  him  a  greater 
man  than  John  A.  Andrew,  or,  indeed,  than  an}'  governor 
since  Samuel  Adams,  simply  because  he  has  found  out  that 
Butler  hates  the  Republican  party  quite  as  bitterly  as  he 
hates  it,  and  has  even  more  power  to  injure  it.  Phillips  has 
hated  the  newspapers  for  thirty  years  ;  yet  he  let  them  run 
over  him  rough-shod  in  1870  :  but  Butler  means  to  strangle 
them,  and  there  an  end.  The  voice  is  to  be  the  only  medium 
of  communication  with  the  public.  I  know  now  why  Frank 
Bird  is  so  odious.  He  is  a  paper-maker!  "Contrary  to  the 
king,  his  crown  and  dignity,  thou  hast  built  a  paper-mill," 

0  Bird  !  Let  Alexander  Rice  beware  !  And  all  these  venal 
thirty-dollar-a-month  scribblers,  like  "Warrington,"  —  why, 
sentence  is  to  be  passed  on  them  at  once.     "  Away  with  him, 

1  say  !  hang  him  with  his  pen  and  ink-horn  about  his  neck  !  " 
The  great  point,  however,  is  the  slaughter  of  the  party. 
Both  of  these  men  mean  to  destroy  it.  From  the  day  Butler 
entered  it,  he  has  worked  for  its  destruction.  It  is  needless  to 
recapitulate  or  to  do  more  than  allude  to  his  abuse  of, 
including  personal  insults  toward,  Gen.  Grant ;  his  betrayal 
of  Dawes,  the   Massachusetts  candidate  for  speaJcer ;   his 


446  ''WARRIXGTOX:" 

attempted  "bargain  in  relation  to  the  chainnansliip  of  the  most 
important  committee  ;  his  desire  to  supplant  Senator  Wilson, 
—  acts  which  are  well  known  here,  bnt  are  ten  times  better 
known  in  Washington  and  in  New  York  and  the  West,  where 
there  is  ver}'  much  greater  cause  for  the  "  strangling  "  of  the 
press  than  there  is  here. 

The  thi'ee  men  in  this  couutrj-  who  have  brought  most 
discredit  on  America  in  Europe  (sa^'s  a  distinguished  gentle- 
man just  returned  from  the  other  side)  are  Pendleton,  Jim 
Fisk,  and  Ben  Butler ;  and  he  might  have  added,  that  these 
three  men  have  brought  more  discredit  upon  America  among 
Americans  themselves  than  any  other  three  men.  It  is  not 
possible  to  exaggerate  the  mischief  which  Butler  has  brought 
to  the  party  which  he  now  professes  a  desire  to  reform  and 
rehabilitate.  What  sent  Missouri  over  to  the  Democracy?  — 
temporaril}'  i)erhaps,  but  long  enough  to  elect  Blair  to  the 
Senate.  What  has  kept  the  great  and  enlightened  State  of  ■ 
New  York  out  pf  Republican  hands  for  the  last  three  j-ears? 
What  has  lost  us  the  South  ?  That  demoralization  and  corrup- 
tion of  politics,  that  irresistible  gravitation  (thus  far)  to  per- 
sonal government  as  against  the  government  of  law  or  political 
ethics,  of  which  Butler  is  the  most  complete  representative, 
take  him  all  in  all,  in  the  whole  country.  If  he  should  be 
nominated  for  governor  of  this  Commonwealth,  no  honest 
man  could  rejoice  except  those  extreme  optimists  who  think 
with  Emerson  that  government  is  a  succession  of  felonies, 
and  magistrates  a  succession  of  felons,  and  whose  hopes  of 
ultimate  good  rest  in  the  streaming  through  of  some  irresisti- 
ble tendency  which  is  to  make  things  all  right  by  and  b}-. 

"  "WARRrNGTON's  "  LIFE   OF   BUTLER   IN   1871. 

Now  I  will  tell  you  a  secret.  "  Warrington"  is  collecting 
materials  for  a  life  of  Butler.  Seventeen  Hartford  publish- 
ing-houses are  competing  for  the  job,  and  thirty  presses  are  .^: 
now  in  course  of  construction  for  the  printing  of  it.  It  is  to 
begin  at  the  beginning.  Let  me  give  you  a  choice  specimen. 
He  has  in  his  historical  researches  unearthed  an  old  history 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  447 

of  England  (London,  170G),  which  gives  the  following  sug- 
gestive account  of  one  Butler  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of 
James  I.  It  was  written  b}'  Arthur  "Wilson,  Esq.,  a  native 
of  Suffolk,  an  Oxford  man,  a  traveller  in  Spain,  France,  &c., 
with  Robert  Devereux,  the  last  earl  of  Essex  olT  that  name, 
and  said  to  have  been  "  perfectly  well  informed  in  all  the 
material  transactions  of  King  James's  reign."  In  addition 
to  this,  let  me  add,  he  seems  to  have  been  endowed  with  the 
gift  of  prophec}-.  The  first  marginal  note  is  Mr.  Wilson's  ; 
but  the  others  I  have  supplied. 

"  There  was  one  Butler,  an  Irishman  (which  vaunted  him- 
self to  be  of  the  house  of  Ormond),  who  was  Butier  a  Mounte- 
a  kind  of  Mountebank,  which  the  Duke  and  ^'^^'^• 
his  Mother  much  confided  in.  This  Butler  was  first  an  ap- 
prentice to  a  Cutler  in  London,  and  before  his  time  expired, 
quitted  his  Master,  having  a  running  head,  and  went  to  the 
Burmudaes,  where  he  lived  some  time  as  a  xns,  speculation  in 
Servant  in  the  Island ;  and  walking  by  the  Ambergreece. 
Seaside  with  another  of  his  Companions,  the}'  found  a  gi-eat 
Mass  of  Ambergreece  that  the  Seas  Bount}'  had  cast  up  to 
them,  which  they  willingly  concealed,  meaning  to  make  their 
best  markets  of.  Butler  being  a  subtle  Snap,  Butler  a  subtle 
wrought  so  with  his  Companion,  with  Prom-  Snap, 
ises  of  a  Share,  that  he  got  Possession  of  it ;  and  in  the  next 
Dutch  ship  that  arrived  at  the  Burmudaes,  he  shipped  him- 
self and  his  Commodities  for  Amsterdam,  where,  having  sold 
his  Bargain  at  a  good  Rate  and  made  his  Credit  with  his 
Fellow-Venturer  cheap  enough,  engrossing  it  all  to  himself, 
he  came  into  England,  lived  in  a  gallant  and  noble  Equipage, 
kept  a  great  and  Free  Table  at  his  Lodgings  in  the  Strand, 
which  were  furnished  suitable  to  his  Mind,  His  Great  state  in 
and  had  his  Coach  with  six  Horses  with  England. 
many  Footmen  attending  on  him,  with  as  much  State  and 
Grandnre  as  if  his  Greatness  had  been  real.  But  tho'  his 
Means  lasted  not  to  support  this  long,  yd  it  brought  him 
into  great  Acquaintance ;  and  being  prag-  Becomes  Partner 
matical   in  Tongue,    and   having   an   active      in  a  iMstuiery? 


448  "WARniNGTOy.-" 

Pate,  lie  fell  to  some  Distillations,  and  other  odd  extracting 
His       Extracting    Practices,  which  kept  him  afloat ;  and  some 

Practices.  jyien    thought    he    had    gotten    the    (long- 

dream 'd-after)  Philosopher's  Stone ;  but  the  best  Recipe 
Is  thought  to  have    which  he  had  to  maintain  his  Greatness  after 

gotten  the  Phi-    his  Amber-money  fumed  and  vapour' d  awaj", 

losopher'8  Stone.  ^    i    ^  ^  i  •      -n  •       i        i. 

was  suspected  to  come  from  his  triends  at 
Whitehall ;  and  the  Story  of  his  Death  (if  it  be  true)  is  one 
great N  Evidence  of  some  secret  Machination  betwixt  the 
The  Duke  desires    Duke  and  him,  that  the  Duke  was  willing  to 

to  be  rid  of  him.  i^g  ^.j^j  ^f  i^[^  YoT  Mischicf  being  an  En- 
grosser, is  insecure  and  unsatisf^^'d,  when  their  "Wares  are  to 
be  vented  in  manj-  Shops.  Therefore  he  was  recommended 
upon  some  plausible  Occasion  by  the  Duke's  Means  (as 
Entertained  by  the    Fame  delivered  it)  to  some  Jesuites  bej-ond 

jesiiites.  ^j^g  Seas,  where  he  was  entertained  with   a 

great  deal  of  specious  Ceremony  and  Respect  in  one  of  their 
Colleges  or  Clo3'sters  ;  and  at  night  they  attending  him  to 
his  Chamber  with  much  Civility,  the  Chamber  being  hanged 
with  Tapistry,  and  Tapers  burning  in  stretch'd-out  Arms 
"Over  the  left."  upou  the  Walls;  and  when  the}-  gave  him 
the  Good-night,  they  told  him  the}'  would  send  one  who 
should  direct  him  to  his  Lodging ;  and  they  were  no  sooner 
out  of  this  Room  of  Death,  but  the  Floor,  that  hung  upon 
great  Hinges  on  one  side,  was  let  fall  by  Artificial  Engines, 
A  FaU  in  Vermin,  and  the  poor  Vermin  Butler  dropp'd  into 
a  Precipice  where  he  was  never  more  heard  of.  That  there 
are  such  secret  Inquisition-Conve^'ances,  of  a  horrid  Nature, 
is  obvious ;  and  such  close  contrivances  mny  Qy  up  and 
down  upon  the  Wings  of  Rumour ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  find 
The  end  of  Butler    out  the  Bottom  of  sucb  black  Pitfals,  but 

—Amen!  ^.j^-]^  ^^  much  danger  as  those  that  find  the 

bitter  Effects  of  them.  And  this  was  reputed  to  be  the  end 
of  Butler." 

Looking  further  into  this  volume  (which  may  be  found 
in  the  Athenaeum) ,  I  find  other  traces  of  the  Butlers.  For 
instance,  it  is  related  that  in  15G9,  during  Elizabeth's  reign, 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  449 

Edward  and  Peter  Boteler  (spelt  Butler  in  the  index)' 
"after  they  had  insulted  their  neighbors  in  Munster,  and 
gi-ew  too  big  to  be  restrained  within  the  bounds  of  law," 
they  were  imprisoned,  but  not  brought  to  trial,  "  as  the}' 
deserved,"  saith  the  historian.  "  That  which  went  a  great 
way  to  procure  this  grace,"  the  historian  goes  on  to  sa}', 
"  was  the  near  relation  between  them  and  the  queen."  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  "  near  relation  "  between  our  modern 
Butler  and  the  AVashington  administration  may  not  prevent 
the  former  from  being  brought  to  trial  ' '  as  his  offences 
deserve." 

"Warrington"  has  also  seized  upon  many  curious  illus- 
trations of  Butler's  means  of  gaining  his  great  wealth.  1 
was  amused  at  finding  in  his  manuscript  the  following  quota- 
tion from  the  Book  of  Jeremiah,  which  he  evidently  intends 
to  make  some  use  of  as  pointing  a  moral.  I  believe  it  is  a 
schedule  of  the  spoil  which  the  Chaldeans  got  at  Jerusalem. 
I  had  not  supposed  3'our  correspondent  so  familiar  with  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures. 

"Also  the  pillars  of  brass  that  were  in  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  bases,  and  the  brazen  sea  that  was  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  the  Chaldeans  braJvC,  and  carried  all  the 
brass  of  them  to  Babylon. 

"  The  caldrons  also,  and  the  shovels,  and  the  snuffers, 
and  the  bowls,  and  the  spoons,  and  all  the  vessels  of  brass 
wherewith  they  ministered,  took  the}-  away. 

"And  the  basins,  and  the  fire-pans,  and  the  bowls,  and 
the  caldrons,  and  the  candlesticks,  and  the  spoons,  and  the 
cups  ;  that  which  was  of  gold  in  gold,  and  that  which  was  of 
silver  in  silver,  took  the  captain  of  the  guard  awa}'." 

I  interviewed  "  Warrington  "  as  to  his  feelings  in  relation 
to  Butler's  frequent  notices  of  him  ;  and  he  replied,  that  he 
felt  like  saying  to  the  great  orator  what  Mr.  Bumble  said  to 
Mrs.  Bumble  concerning  her  tears:   "It   opens   the   lungs, 

1  It  is  curious,  that,  while  this  ancieut  Butler  was  known  as  a  Boteler, 
the  modern  and  perhaps  more  notorious  Butler  was  universally,  after 
certain  events  in  Virginia  in  18G5,  known  as  the  "Bottled." 


I 


450  "  WARRINGTON: " 

washes  the  countenance,   exercises  the  e3'es,  and  softens 
down  the  temper:    so  cry  awa}-." 

BUTLER   IN   1S73. 

The  whole  history  of  Butler  and  Butlerism  in  the  State 
would  be  instructive  reading.  I  have  yqvj  full  materials  for 
one  ;  but  it  is  never  likely  to  be  called  for.  Butler  has  com- 
plained, time  and  again,  that  he  has  been  made  an  outlaw 
from  the  beginning.  He  made  himself  so.  I  know  a  man 
who  lived  in  the  same  house  with  him  when  he  was  a  school-  ■, 
hoy.  He  told  me  that  he  has  hated  him  ever  since,  because  | 
he  licked  Ben  once,  and  the  latter  told  the  master,  and  got 
him  licked.  Always  a  coward,  he  grew  up,  through  a  career 
of  impudent  pettifogging,  into  a  position  of  some  degree  of 
height  in  those  very  discreditable  tribunals,  the  criminal 
courts.  His  office  was  the  educator  of  a  pestilent  brood  of 
lawyers  as  base  and  impudent  as  himself.  The  judges  al- 
lowed him  not  onh'  to  insult  the  witnesses,  but  to  browbeat 
and  insult  them.  Sharp-sighted  and  sharp-witted,  he  was 
excellent  at  picking  flaws  in  indictments,  and  noting  excep- 
tions to  judicial  rulings;  so  that  in  "the  judicial  sj-stem," 
which  is  a  system  of  hinderances,  obstructions,  and  frauds, 
he  became  an  important  figure.  He  had  great  capacity  for 
labor  and  for  organization,  and  not  onl}^  moved  his  own  ten 
picJiers  and  stealers,  but  after  he  got  into  a  still  wider  field 
of  fi*aud,  the  civil  war,  he  commanded  all  the  thieving  facul- 
ties of  other  men.  Of  course,  such  a  man  became  an  out- 
law. He  got  to  Congress  because  he  performed  the  part  of 
Jack  Ketch  on  a  poor  devil  of  a  rebel  in  New  Orleans. 

After  that  he  used  to  say,  "  You  fellows  say  j^ou  mean  to 
keep  me  localized  down  in  Essex:  we'll  see  about  that." 
So  he  went  for  the  State  in  1871,  with  Essex  all  behind  him, 
except  a  few  towns,  and  a  few  true  men  whose  courage  and 
whose  patience  cannot  sufficient!}'  be  applauded.  He  was 
beaten  then  and  in  .1873  ;  yet  circumstances  were  ver}*  fa- 
vorable to  him,  both  j'ears.  Almost  an}'  other  man  of  equal 
physical  and  intellectual  vigor  could  have  carried  the  con- 


ti 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  451 

vention  eithex*  3'ear.  He  was  ass  enough  to  suppose  that 
his  own  personal  ambition  and  audacitj'  could  compel  a 
nomination  against  the  deliberate  will  of  a  majority  of  the 
voters,  —  deliberated  when  aroused;  and  yet,  when  beaten, 
he  left  his  friends  in  the  lurch,  and  returned  to  Essex  to 
growl  over  his  "  localization,"  to  employ  his  clerks  writing 
notes  stabbing  below  tlie  arm  all  the  men  he  could  reach  who 
had  opposed  him,  and  lending  himself  to  all  the  private 
quarrels  of  every  town  to  pay  his  hired  assassins.  The 
roar  with  which  Gloucester  itself  sprang  upon  the  dead 
carcass  and  dismembered  it  is  his  recompense.  This  base 
man  has  been  the  trusted  and  influential  adviser  of  Gen. 
Grant  in  all  the  matters  appertaining  to  the  offices  for  3'ears 
past. 

What  a  pitiable  delusion  the  "  labor-men,"  whether  skilled 
or  unskilled,  dav-laborers  or  mechanics,  are  in,  if  they  sup- 
pose the}^  are  to  gain  any  thing  but  increased  taxation 
and  new  disabilities  and  wrongs  if  the  Butler  S3'stem  is  to 
carr}'  the  da}' !  Originall}-,  by  the  emergencies  to  which  a 
young  pettifogger,  struggling  for  a  living,  is  subjected,  Butler 
iDCcame  a  ten-hour  man  and  a  labor-reformer.  He  wa.s  as 
honest  in  this  as  it  was  in  his  nature  to  be.  He  fought 
the  Lowell  corporations,  agents  and  overseers,  brought  suits 
for  the  factor3--girls,  and  made  speeches  in  the  Lowell  Cit}' 
Hall ;  but,  as  he  rose  in  position  at  the  bar,  his  abilit}'  and 
sharpness  made  him  useful  to  the  corporations,  and  tlic}-  fre- 
quently emplo3-ed  him.  He  fought  hard  for  the  Ten-hour 
Law  in  the  days  of  the  coalition,  and,  as  he  says  (though 
this  was  cifter  Sumner  was  chosen  senator,  and  Boutsvell 
governor,  instead  of  before,  as  he  puts  it),  Lowell  was  car- 
ried for  the  coalition  ticket  in  1852  ;  and  the  3-ear  after  lie 
was  put  on  it,  and  also  chosen.  I  do  not  remember  that  he 
showed  an3'  zeal  on  the  subject  afterward.  At  any  rate, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  in  1859,  and  never  lifted  his 
finger  or  made  a  motion  of  an3'  sort  on  the  subject.  From 
being  a  liberal  and  progressive  Democrat,  he  about  this  time 
became  an  intense  hunker.     In  the  fall  of  1859  he  ran  for 


u 


452  "WAREIJSrGTON:-" 

governor  as  the  Democratic  candidate,  and  received  35.320 
votes ;  and  this,  instead  of  being  the  largest  vote,  as  he 
boasts,  was  less  than  Beach  received  in  185G  and  1858,  less 
than  Boutwell  received  in  1850  and  1851,  and  Bishop  in 
1852,  and  20,000  or  30,000  less  than  the  Democratic  party 
has  received  since  he  left  it.  In  1860  his  hunker  tendencies 
led  him  to  betray  Douglas,  and  sent  him  finall3'  over  to  the 
secession  Democrac}',  whose  candidate  for  governor  he 
became,  receiving  6,118  votes.  All  this  was  about  the  time 
of  the  re-organization  of  the  Middlesex  woollen  company  in 
LoAvell,  b3'  which  he  became  a  mill-owner.  "When  the  war 
broke  out,  he  went  into  that. 

Nobod}'  desires  to  disparage  his  patriotism  or  his  military' 
services ;  but  it  was  not  ver}'  long  before  lie  was  found 
appointing  as  his  quartermaster  the  most  notorious  jobber 
in  New  England,  and  contriving  to  throw  contracts  into  the 
hands  of  his  brothers-in-law  and  a  ring  of  relatives  and 
political  associates.  Has  he  ever  since  that  time,  until  he 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  the  international  labor  move- 
ment subservient  to  his  political  ambition,  shown  an}-  sympa- 
thy with  the  labor  partj'?  Never.  -He  is  the  representa- 
tive, on  the  other  hand,  of  the  piratical  and  cut-throat 
s^'stem  of  politics,  which  is  death  to  the  mechanic,  because 
it  piles  on  him  accumulating  debts,  and  keeps  him  down, 
forever  a  son  of  toil,  for  the  benefit  of  just  such  base  pluto- 
crats. If  he  is  for  co-operation,  he  would  start  a  co-opera- 
tive theft  societ}' ;  and  the  protective  union'  would,  in  his 
hands,  become  the  independent  order  of  Dick  Turpin.  It  is 
nothing  less  than  insanitj'  for  mechanics  to  put  themselves 
into  his  power. 

I  hear  people  say  he  bowed  gracefully  to  the  decision  of 
the  "Worcester  Convention.  Just  as  a  condemned  criminal  '^^ 
bows  gracefull}'  to  the  invitation  of  the  hangman  to  have  his 
arms  pinioned  and  be  led  out  to  execution.  The  ring  of 
necessity  was  round ,3iim.  The  iron  shroud  was  collapsing, 
as  in  the  old  Blaok.^bod  storj- ;  and  at  the  stroke  of  the  bell 
he  had  only  time  to  fold  his  arms,  utter  his  last  words,  and 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  453 

make  an  attempt  to  die  with  deeeuc}'.  He  went  out  the 
worst-beaten  man  that  has  been  known  in  our  political 
history-  for  3-ears  ;  for  the  stake  for  which  he  pla^-ed  was 
nothing  less  than  the  presidency',  and  he  ignominiousl}-  lost 
it.  I  do  not  believe  he  will  ever  have  half  so  favorable  an 
opportunity  again.  One  worse,  and  apparent!}-  a  final  catas- 
trophe, has  been  added  to  his  long  series  of  failures.  The 
people  are  against  him,  and  he  is  against  himself.  A  self- 
willed  egotist,  he  asks  no  advice,  and  takes  none  when 
offered.  Conscienceless  and  remorseless  in  all  his  public 
acts,  however  kind  and  agreeable  in  the  private  relations  of 
life,  he  must  continue  to  fail  until  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts and  the  United  States  become  as  conscienceless  and  as 
remorseless  as  himself.  Whatever  happens  now,  Butler  is 
certain,  if  he  lives  three  or  five  3-ears  longer,  to  be  the  best 
hated  and  the  most  justlj^  despised  politician  in  the  country. 
As  sure  as  fate,  all  this  salarj'-grabbing  gang  have  got  to  go 
to  the  w^all,  even  if  another  gang  of  thieves  take  their  places  : 
and  they  have  got  to  be  imshed  to  the  wall ;  for  Providence 
has  probably  got  enough  to  attend  to  in  a  general  way,  with- 
out speciall}'  taking  care  of  Massachusetts  politics.  We 
liave  good  poetical  authoritj'  for  believing  that 

"  God  hates  your  sneakin'  creturs  that  believe 
He'il  settle  things  they  run  away  and  leave,  — 
The  sneakin'  kind,  that  sets  and  thinks  for  weeks 
The  bottom's  out  of  the  universe  coz  their  own  gill-pot  leaks."  , 

If  So-and-So,  and  This,  That,  and  the  Other,  are  for  Butler, 
so  much  the  worse  for  therii,  not  for  %ls. 

butler's  epitaph. 
I  understand,  that,  although  Butler  has  drawn  his  back 
pa}-,  he  feels  constrained  b}-  public  opinioa  to  devote  it  to 
some  public  institution.  One  of  the  Lowell  banks  (being 
the  one  he  keeps  his  deposits  in)  is  liis  present  preference; 
though  he  thinks  favorably  of  tlie  ^liddlesex  Mills,  the  I'eu- 
tucket  Navigation  Compan}-,  the  Ballon  Boot  and  Shoe  Sew- 
ing Machine  Companj-,  the  Cape  Aim  Granite  Company-  (or 


454  "  WARRINGTON:" 

whatever  its  uame  may  be) ,  and  some  others.  If  he  selects 
the  Granite  Company,  there  will  be  a  snitable  inscription 
placed  on  one  of  the  stones  to  be  used  in  the  enlargement  of 
the  Post  OfHce  ;  perhaps  this  :  "  I  have  bnilded  a  monument 
more  lasting  than  (my  own)  brass." 

HENRY   WARD    BEECHER   IN    1864. 

Beecher  is  the  greatest  stump-speaker  we  have,  as  Phillips 
is  the  greatest  orator.  His  language  is  as  common  and 
forcible  as  Cobbett's  ;  his  illustrations  homely  and  humorous, 
and  exactly  suited  to  the  average  abilities  of  the  people.  He 
knows  men  and  women,  and  alwaj's  keeps  his  hearers  on 
good  terms  with  him ;  and,  when  he  has  an}'  thing  to  say, 
says  it  in  a  way  which  takes  hold  of  them  and  carries  them 
along.  He  says  what  the  people  have  been  saying  to  them- 
selves, and  so  flatters  them  with  the  idea  that  they  have  been 
thinking  wisely  all  the  time.  So  sometimes  he  confirms 
good  ideas,  and  sometimes  bad  ones.  Beecher  seems  to  me 
to  be  exceedingly  cautious,  even  cunning,  in  the  use  of  lan- 
guage. It  would  be  difficult  to  catch  him  in  the  utterance 
of  any  heresy,  political  or  religious,  even  if  his  prominent 
position  and  popularity  did  not  deter  the  heresy-hunters  from 
pouncing  upon  him  as  the}-  did  upon  his  brother  Charles. 
He  is  a  thorough  Yankee,  loving  money  as  well  as  the  best. 
He  is  a  wonderful  stump-orator.  He  tells  stories  and  cracks 
Jokes,  and  oft-times  touches  the  sympathies  of  his  hearers 
in  a  mastei'ly  way.  Beecher  is  a  humorist,  and  is  fully 
conscious  of  the  fact.  Indeed,  I  doubt  whether  men  often 
say  witt}'  and  humorous  things  by  accident,  or,  at  least, 
without  being  fully  conscious  of  the  wit  and  humor  as  soon 
as  the  word  is  spoken.  Speaking  of  Napoleon  in  one  of  his 
lectures,  Beecher  said  he  was  superior  to  his  rivals,  the  other 
kings  of  Europe  ;  not  so  good,  perhaps,  as  "  an  average  good 
man  when  he  isn't  tempted,'"  but,  on  the  whole,  a  useful  man. 
What  a  satire  on  the  whole  human  family  wms  contained  in 
this  humorous  hit !  Speaking  of  the  swiftness  with  which  we 
had  raised  an  army  of  half  a  million  men,  he  said,  "Our 


I 
f 


i 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  455 

only  military  education  heretofore  bad  been  once  or  twice  a 
year  to  laugh  at  the  militia."  What  an  exquiSfteM^ea  of  a 
militaiy  education ! 

Beecher  treats  the  question  of  emancipation  with  great 
nonchalance ;  intimating,  that,  if  the  blacks  are  forty  3^ears 
longer  in  the  wilderness,  they  may  consider  themselves  well 
oft";  while  their  rebel  masters  and  haters  are  hardh'  used  if 
the}'  are  kept  tramping  about  fort}'  weeks.  Philadelphia  (and 
the  great  mass  of  the  enlightened  people  of  the  country  agree 
with  Philadelphia)  answers,  and  sa3's,  "We  prefer  that  the 
white  traitors,  rather  than  the  black  Unionists,  shall  have 
their  term  in  the  swamps  and  morasses,  and  the  Tennessee 
Moses  ^  ma}'  flounder  round  wnth  them  for  aught  they  care." 
If  Beecher  had  not  been  destitute  of  any  acute  moral  sense,  if 
he  had  not  been  a  mere  sensationalist  and  a  quack,  he  never 
could  have  given  utterance  to  such  a  sentiment,  or  to  his 
quasi  indorsement  of  the  New-Orleans  murders.  He  ma}' 
make  as  many  jokes  as  he  pleases :  the  people  will  never 
forget  such  insensibility  to  the  sufferings  of  the  white  and 
black  Unionists  of  the  South. 

REPRESENTATIVE    UUMSTEAD    IN    1873. 

The  office-holding  class  is  as  distinct  a  class  as  the  shoe- 
and-leather  interest,  or  the  railroad  interest,  or  the  banking 
interest,  and  a  great  deal  more  expensive  than  either  of  them. 
Trace  the  career  of  one  of  those  mute,  inglorious  Simi)kinses, 
or,  since  the  war  was  over,  those  Bumstcads,  guiltless  of  their 
foeman's  blood.  lie  is  the  progeny  of  Free-Soil  parents  :  that 
seems,  in  the  light  of  antislavery  events  of  the  last  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years,  to  be  needful,  and  necessary  to  be  stated. 
The  number  of  those  fathers  who  cast  the  first  Free-Soit 
vote  in  Poduuk,  or  presided  at  the  first  antislavery  meeting 
in  Snake-hollow  Corners,  is  enormous.  The  boy  grows  up  ; 
he  goes  to  the  village  school  more  or  less  every  year,  from 
the  time  he  is  five  till  the  time  he  is  fifteen  years  old ;  he 

1  Pres.  Johnson, 


456  "WARRINGTOK:" 

enters  an  academy ;  lie  works  for  his  board ;  lie  goes  to  the 
singing-school,  and  home  with  the  prettiest  girl  unless  cnt 
out  by  a  rival  in  her  affections  ;  he  is  emploj^ed  as  a  teacher  ; 
tries  conclusions  with  an  unrul}'  bo}",  and  flogs  him  into  sub- 
mission, thereby  getting  his  first  impressions  in  favor  of 
compulsory  education  and  the  Prussian  S3'stem ;  joins  the 
Good  Templars,  and  becomes  in  time  the  grand  cocked-hat 
of  the  order  ;  gets  him  a  farm,  and  raises  the  prize-cucumber 
for  the  annual  show  ;  is  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  milch  steers ;  studies  political  econom}' ;  is  converted  to 
the  Stebbins  theory  of  the  prohibitory'  law ;  believes  in  for- 
bidding all  drinks,  except  that  produced  from  apple-trees, 
he  having  an  incipient  orchard  of  that  class  ;  is  mentioned 
b}'  partial  friends  for  constable  of  tlie  town  ;  takes  his  first 
oath  of  office  with  an  emotion  not  to  be  described  ;  resolves  to 
become  a  public  man  ;  is  soon  promoted  to  the  office  of  school- 
committee-man  ;  neglects  no  home  duty  meanwhile,  but  raises 
sturdy  l:oys,  pays  his  taxes  without  protest  or  abatement, 
and  contributes  an  occasional  item  of  news  to  the  county 
paper ;  engages  after  a  while  as  a  regular  correspondent ; 
becomes  interested  in  antiquarian  matters ;  writes  to  his 
uncle  in  Maine  to  know  if  he  has  ixny  genealogy  of  the  Bum- 
stead  family  ;  helps  start  the  public  library,  and  contributes 
a  volume  of  patent-office  reports ;  rapidly  rising  in  town 
office  all  the  while,  through  the  various  grades,  —  overseer 
of  the  poor,  assessor,  selectman,  and  finally  representa- 
tive in  the  General  Court ;  takes  his  carpet-bag,  makes 
his  wa}'  to  the  State  House,  seeks  an  introduction  to  the 
sergeant-at-arms,  and  tells  him  liis  histoiy ;  goes  to  see  the 
speaker ;  produces  letters  recommending  him  as  a  suitable 
man  for  the  railroad,  the  education,  the  public  cliaritable, 
the  town,  the  roads,  the  judiciary,  and  the  finance  commit- 
tees, —  all  or  an}'  three  of  thein  ;  gets  appointed  on  county 
estimates ;  posts  up  the  Podunk  statesman  on  all  matters 
of  interest  which  occur ;  votes  to  instruct  Senator  AVilson, 
and  censure  Senator  Sumner,  and  to  increase  eveiybody's 
pay  ;  and  goes  home,  witli  the  approbation  of  an  applauding 


I 


PEK-POBTRAITS.  457 

conscience,  to  his  summer  farming  and  his  autumnal  oflSce- 
seeking.  This  is  the  career  of  several  hundred,  if  not 
several  thousand,  fellows  who  "  run  "  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  —  God  save  it ! 

RUFUS    CHOATE. 

Mr.  Choate  was  oertaialy  a  man  of  genius  ;  one  of  the 
few  men  of  genius  in  political  and  professional  life.  This 
was,  after  all,  the  great  secret  of  the  liking  people  had  for 
him.  There  were  other  law3'ers  as  learned  as  he  ;  for  instance, 
Mr.  B.  R.  Curtis,  Mr.  C.  G.  Loring,  Mr.  Sidney  Bartlett : 
there  were  also  others  as  acute  and  slvilful  as  he  in  the  trial 
of  causes ;  for  instance,  Mr.  B.  F.  Butler  and  Mr.  Otis  P. 
Lord.  But  these,  though  men  of  learning  and  shrewdness. 
were  not  men  of  genius  ;  especially  the  first-named  class  had 
not  this  quality.  The3^  were  not  men  of  whom  anecdotes 
are  told ;  men  who  saj"  tilings  worth  reporting  and  remem- 
bering, poetical  things.  I  have  been  told,  that,  when  Mr. 
Choate  first  came  to  Boston,  the  leading  law^'crs  were  dis- 
posed to  prevent  him  from  rising  in  the  world  ;  but  'they 
soon  had  to  give  wa^-.  He  raked  them  all  down,  to  use  a 
vulgarism.  The  man  who  came  nearest  rivalship  to  him  in 
the  field  of  eloquence  was  Peleg  Sprague,  who,  soon  after 
1840,  was  placed  upon  the  bench  of  the  District  Court. 
Richard  Fletcher,  one  of  tlie  most  persuasive  of  men,  as 
well  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  jurists,  must  have  been  a  very 
formidable  antagonist.  Mr.  Rantoul  might  have  disputed 
w^itli  Mr.  Choate  tlie  palm  of  superiority  at  the  bar,  —  for  he 
was  a  far  greater  man  in  most  respects,  having  the  logical 
faculty  and  the  debating  power  better  developed  than  almost 
an}'  Massachusetts  man  of  tliis  ccntnr}', — but  lie  chose  the 
broader  and  nobler  field  of  politics.  Mr.  Choate  soon 
reached  the  position  of  acknowledged  leader  of  the  bar,  and 
kept  it  till  he  died.  Although  he  mingled  to  some  extent 
in  politics  and  legislation,  he  never  succeeded  in  these  fields. 
He  was  a  great  lawyer,  rather  a  great  trier  of  causes.  I 
am  not  aware  that  he  ever  did  an}-  thing  toward  siniplity- 


ll 


458  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ing  or  ameliorating  the  law,  or  getting  rid  of  its  old-world 
rubbish.  He  was  neither  a  Brougham  nor  a  Romilly.  In 
his  peculiar  sphere  he  was  unrivalled ;  but  that  sphere  was 
not  the  greatest. 

There  are  traditions  as  to  the  extraordinarj'  sensation  Mr. 
Choate  created  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  "Washing- 
ton when  he  first  made  his  appearance  there  as  an  orator ; 
but  in  an  old  number  of  "The  Salem  Register"  of  1833, 
which  I  came  across  not  long  ago,  I  found,  quoted  from  one 
of  Mr.  James  Brooks's  letters  to  "  The  Portland  Adver- 
tiser," the  following  cm-ious  description  of  the  promising 
^•oung  member  from  Essex,  which  would  seem  to  apply  to 
some  such  man  as  Mr.  Charles  Hudson,  or  Mr.  John  Davis, 
rather  than  to  a  man  of  Mr.  Choate' s  fervid  temperament :  — 

"Mr.  Rufus  Choate  is  a  most  promising  young  man  from  Essex 
District,  wlio  does  not  speali  often,  but  who  spealvs  much  to  the 
purpose.  Few  men  in  Congress  command  more  attention.  He  has 
a  ivell-dlscipllned,  hut  perhaps  not  a  brilliant,  mind  ;  or,  if  brilliant,  he 
has  not  suffered  himself  to  strike  out  many  oratorical  sparks  in  the 
oratorical  debates  in  which  he  7«as  participated.  He  argues  closely, 
clearly,  and,  of  course,  forcibly.  He  came  into  Congress  with  a  high 
reputation  preceding  him,  —  not  always  the  most  fortunate  recom- 
mendation ;  for  it  makes  critics  more  critical,  and  the  public  more 
greedy,  —  and  has  thus  far  sustained  the  expectations  of  the  public, 
and  increased  his  own  reputation.  There  is  an  apparent  frankness, 
a  sinceritj',  and  sober  earnestness,  in  his  manner,  when  he  addresses 
the  House,  which  are  admirably  calculated  to  make  an  impression, 
and  which  does  always  have  an  effect.  Mr.  Choate  returns  from  the 
House  this  session  to  pursue  his  profession  of  law  at  Boston,  it  is 
said,  where  there  is  but  little  doubt  that  he  must  soon  be  in  the  front 
rank  at  the  bar.  Massachusetts  will  lose  much  in  losing  him  from 
Congress;  for,  the  longer  he  was  there,  the  stronger  he  would  be- 
come." 

Mr.  Choate  was  a  great  speech-maker,  and  his  death  the 
cause  of  great  speech-making  in  others.  ' '  Lying  Jack 
Campbell  has  added  a  new  tenor  to  death  ! ' '  exclaimed  Lord 
Brougham  when  he  heard  that  Lord  Campbell  was  about  to 
write  the  lives  of  the  chancellors.  I  think  Choate  would 
have  made  a  similar  exclamation  if  he  had  been  told  in  his 


PEX-POIiTRAITS.  459 

last  illness  that  Ben  Hallett  ^youlcl  take  the  opportunitj'  of 
his  death  to  eulogize  his  religious  character.  Ought  there 
not  to  be  a  statute  against  such  outrages  ? 

Choate  was  a  man  of  the  world  and  of  common  sense, 
who,  however  disappointed  for  himself  or  his  friends,  did  not 
sulk  and  growl  and  grumble,  and  go  about  exhibiting  his 
wounds,  and  telling  how  badl}'  he  had  been  used,  and  getting 
onl}'  laughter  instead  of  sympathy.  He  pursued  his  regular 
A'ocation  with  matchless  ability  to  the  end  ;  and,  though 
occasionally  turning  aside  to  give  the  public  the  fruits  of  his 
scholarship  and  reading  in  an  oration  or  lecture,  did  not 
make  this  his  whole  business,  but  did  it  only  at  intervals,  as 
he  could  snatch  moments  here  and  there  from  the  incessant 
warfare  he  was  waging  for  his  life  and  the  welfare  of  his 
famil}-.  There  is  a  world-wide  difference  between  a  man  of 
this  sort,  whatever  his  opinions  may  be,  and  one  of  the  nice 
men  of  Boston.  Choate  was  not  one  of  the  "  Massachusetts 
magi."  He  was  alwa3-s  at  work.  He  was  not  seen  except 
when  he  was  busy.  If  you  Avanted  to  loolc  at  him,  you  had 
to  go  into  the  Court  House ;  and  there  he  was,  seated  at  his 
table,  and  exercising  Iiis  wonderful  skill  in  winning  a  victory, 
rightfully  or  wrongfullv,  for  his  client.  He  was  generall}' 
wrapped  up  in  half  a  dozen  great-coats  and  tip[)cts  ;  but, 
when  he  came  to  his  argument,  he  unrolled  himself,  and 
Avent  at  the  reluctant  and  suspicious  jury,  with  a  confidence 
in  his  cause,  and  a  skill  in  its  presentation,  wliich  were 
wonderful  to  see  and  hear ;  and,  when  intermission  came,  he 
hastily  wrapped  himself  up  again,  darted  into  Parker's  for 
dinner,  and  then  back  to  finish  his  speech.  It  was  work, 
work,  work,  every-day  work,  necessary  work ;  and,  though 
not  the  very  highest  work  for  a  man  of  great  gifts,  yet  work 
requiring  great  intellectual  force.  To  be  the  greatest  of 
advocates,  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  bar,  the  ablest 
and  shrewdest  man  to  fight  battles  in  the  courts,  the  cun- 
ningest  at  tongue-fence,  and  equal  to  an}'  at  logic-chopping ; 
to  magnetize  and  electrify  and  bamboozle  and  soranambulize 
the  juries  ;  to  fill  the  house  with  heaz-ers,  —  big  men  and  little 


460  "  WARRING  TON : " 

men,  the  educated  and  the  illiterate,  —  even  when  the  con- 
test was  on  a  diy  question  of  law,  or  involving  a  small  sum 
of  monej-,  —  this  was  evidence  of  greatness  which  all  men 
can  admire.  For  m}'  part,  I  think  one  of  the  chief  attrac- 
tions of  Boston  is  gone.  It  was  almost  a  sufficient  solace 
for  scantiness  of  emploj-meut  that  I  could  go  to  East  Cam- 
bridge and  see  Choate  and  Butler  trj-  the  case  of  Kimball 
and  Devens,  which  lasted  two  or  three  weeks  ;  but  he  is 
gone,  and  there  is  nobod}-  left  worth  hearing  at  all  times. 

Choate  was  the  greatest  genius  who  has  appeared  in  the 
courts  of  late  years,  or  perhaps  ever  appeared  here.  People 
looked  at  him  with  admiration,  as  at  "Webster,  with  a  mix- 
ture of  wonder.  There  are  single  tones  and  phrases  and 
words  of  his  which  haunt  the  memor}'.  Get  some  old  habitue 
of  the  court  to  imitate  them,  and  to  repeat  to  you  how  he 
used  to  talk  to  the  judge  and  jury.  In  the  Phoenix-bank 
trial,  before  Judge  Washburn,  he  had  a  point  of  preliminary 
law  to  argue,  and  there  was  an  adjournment  till  the  morning 
for  preparation.  He  came  in,  and,  for  two  or  three  hours, 
talked  as  I  thought  no  mortal  ever  talked  before,  or  ever 
would  again.  It  was  a  point  involving  some  legal  principle  ; 
and  his  little  phrases,  —  something  about  the  time  when  our 
ancestors  brought  the  first  rude  law  out  of  the  woods  of  Ger- 
man}', or  tracing  it  to  the  da}'  "  when  the  warm  blood  of 
Seneca  was  let  out  in  the  Roman  bath,"  the  last  two  words 
being  uttered  just  as  he  turned  toward  his  manuscript  again, 
or  with  that  lift  of  the  shoulders,  and  lowering  of  the  voice, 
which  were  so  attractive,  —  all  these  knacks  of  expression 
were  as  delightful  evidently  to  Mr.  Webster,  who  was  pres- 
ent, as  to  any  one  else  ;  for  he  followed  him  with  the  most 
expressive  interest  in  his  face  through  the  whole  speech. 

Mr.  Choate,  in  one  of  his  moments  of  intellectual  -'free- 
dom," but  moral  despondency,  wrote  to  his  friend  Charles 
Eames,  then  in  Caraccas,  in  the  year  1855,  a  dismally  hu- 
morous account  of  the  Hiss  legislatm-e,^  and  the  "  enormous 


1  Joseph  Hiss,  a  member,  was  expelled  from  the  legislature  of  1855 
for  misdemeanor. 


■M 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  461 

impossible  inanitj''  of  American  things."  "Your  estate  is 
gracious,"  said  he,  "that  keeps  j-ou  out  of  hearing  of  our 
politics.  Any  thing  more  low,  obscene,  feculent,  the  mani- 
fold oceanic  hearings  of  history-  have  not  cast  up.  We  shall 
come  to  the  worship  of  onions,  cats,  and  things  vermiculate. 
Renown  and  grace  are  dead.  '  There's  nothing  serious  in 
mortalit}'.'  Bless  j'our  lot,"  he  continues,  "which  gives 
3'ou  volcanoes,  earthquakes,  feather-cinctured  chiefs,  and 
dusky  sights  of  the  tropics."  Such  little  felicities  of  expres- 
sion occurred  constantly  during  his  pleadings  and  in  his 
orations.  I  remember  his  quoting  from  "Ivanlioe"  some- 
thing like  this,  —  "Throw  over  our  spices,  and  robe  the 
roaring  ocean  with  our  silks;"  and  Dr.  J.  W.  Stone  put  it 
phonographically  down  without  quotation-marks,  and  "The 
Boston  Courier"  spoke  of  it  as  a  specimen  of  Choate's 
genius. 

[1870.] 

WILLIAM    HEXRT    CHAXXIN'G    AXD    THE    RADICALS. 

Mr.  Channing,  in  his  discourse  at  the  Radical  Club  in 
Boston,  gave  an  account  of  his  wanderings,  whicli  was  indeed 
very  interesting :  I  mean  his  spiritual  wanderings.  He  told 
how,  upon  leaving  the  Divinity  School,  he  found  himself  a 
deist ;  how  he  preached  as  a  candidate  in  Brattle  Street,  and 
I  believe  somewhere  else  in  Boston,  and  how  he  failed 
because  he  was  not  at  one  with  the  societies  to  whom  he 
spoke  ;  how  he  went  to  Europe  and  studied  ;  how  he  became 
a  minister  to  the  poor  in  New  York ;  went  to  Cincinnati, 
and  was  settled  regular!}'  as  a  Unitarian ;  when  Parker 
arose,  how  he  believed  with  him,  and  sincerely  had  to  tell 
his  people  so,  and  leave  them  ;  how  he  became  an  associa- 
tiouist,  then  a  mystic,  abandoning  Parker  for  Behmen  and 
Swedenborg  ;  went  to  Europe  again  ;  returned  when  the  war 
broke  out ;  abandoned  non-resistance  when  he  saw  the 
soldiers  march  through  "Washington  to  the  South,  and  wanted 
to  go  with  them  (once  before  this  he  had  abandoned  the 
peace  doctrine  when  the   slave-catchers  invaded  Boston)  ; 


462  "  WARRING  TON:  " 

how  lie  went  to  Europe  again,  and  now  has  returned,  having 
found  peace  and  stability-,  as  I  inferred,  but  in  what  I  did  not 
full}'  understand  ;  and  I  mistrust  that  he  has  not  yet  found 
it,  and  perhaps  that  he  will  not,  unless  he  seeks  for  it  where 
Brownson  and  Hecker  sought  for  it,  —  in  the  H0I3'  Catholic 
Church. 

I  used  to  hear  Channing,  about  1849,  in  a  hall  in  Brom- 
field  Street,  preach  Fourierism.  Earlier  than  that,  I  remem- 
ber him  speaking  on  the  antislaver}*  platform  with  Garrison, 
Phillips,  Pillsbur}-,  and  John  A.  Collins,  disagreeing  with 
them  as  to  the  wickedness  of  the  Union,  if  I  remember 
rightl}- ;  always  saying  a  good  word  for  the  nation  and 
for  unity,  which  was  lather  his  hobby.  Mr.  Channing 
remains  a  mystic,  a  religious  man,  a  socialist,  penetrated 
with  sentiment,  brimful  and  running  over  with  love  for  the 
human  race,  and  apparently  not  quite  able,  on  this  very 
account,  to  pour  out  his  love  to  advantage.  His  speech  was 
deep!}'  interesting.  On  the  topic  which  may  be  considered 
the  principal  one  at  this  club  —  to  wit,  "The  Divine  Char- 
acter of  Jesus  "  —  he  was  mystical  as  on  all  others  ;  but  he 
said  he  was  a  Christian,  and  could  not,  like  Francis  E. 
Abbott,  give  up  the  name ;  and  the  bearing  of  his  address 
was  on  what  I  ma}'  call  the  conservative  side.  At  this  club, 
Jesus  (as  the  Son  of  God  in  an}-  peculiar  sense)  is  —  I  mean 
to  speak  respectfull}-  —  on  the  defensive.  Nobody  defends 
the  Church ;  and  long  ago,  as  the  London  wits  said  when  the 
case  Avas  decided  in  favor  of  the  essayists  and  reviewers, 
"Hell  has  been  dismissed  with  costs"  in  all  the  polite 
ecclesiastical  courts  of  this  neighborhood.  As  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, nobod}'  within  the  same  circles  pretends  to  believe 
in  their  verbal  inspiration.  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Clarke  are  holding  a  sort  of  ecumenical  council  in  Mr.  Ilale's 
monthl}-  ("The  Old  and  New")  ;  and  the}- are  showing,  the 
first,  that,  the  less  j'on  believe  in  the  verbal  inspiration  of 
the  Bible,  the  more  of  a  believer  you  are ;  and  the  second, 
that  miracles  are  to  be  believed,  but  they  are  not  miraculous, 
and  that  supernaturalism  is  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  463 

world.  The}'  have  both  at  last  taken  their  stand  on  the 
character  of  Jesus,  placed  their  backs  against  the  rock, 
spoken  of  the  resurrection  and  the  divine  Sonship  as  settled 
and  defensible  articles  of  faith,  and  mean  to  stand  a  long 
siege,  if  necessar}-.  Mr.  Channing,  though  he  did  not  say  he 
had  abandoned  Mr.  Parker's  views,  and  indeed,  as  I  thought, 
seemed  to  indicate  that  he  still  held  to  them,  talked  about 
the  divine  effluence,  and  so  on,  in  a  way  to  bring  him  in 
s^'mpath}-  with  Mr.  Clarke.  Wendell  Phillips  spoke  briefly- ; 
and  though  he  did  not  intimate  that  he  believed  Jesus  was 
God,  or  the  Scriptures  inspired,  except  as  all  good  books 
are  inspired,  he  rested  his  defence  of  Christ  and  Christianity 
on  their  results.  He  thought  without  them  we  should  not 
have  had  our  modern  freedom  and  progress.  The  "  fifty 
years  of  Europe,"  which  are  better  "  than  a  C5'cle  of  Ca- 
thay," he  thought  attributable  to  the  fact  that  Europe  has 
had  Christianit\',  and  Cathav  has  had  it  not. 

Mr.  Iligginson  made  the  speech  for  the  ultra-radical  side, 
and  gave  Mr.  Phillips  some  ugly  facts  as  to  the  authors  and 
promoters  of  the  antislavery  cause  and  the  cause  of  woman's 
rights.  Lucy  Stone  spoke  of  her  Oberlin  experiences ;  told 
how  Prof.  Finnej^'s  metaphysical  absurdities  satisfied  her 
that  Jesus  was  a  man  onl}' ;  and  if  he  was  a  man,  then  all 
men  have  the  possibilitj'  of  becoming  as  good  as  he.  Mr. 
Clarke  was  called  on,  and  spoke  humoroush"  of  those  who  were 
so  anxious  to  disown  the  Christian  name,  saying  that  he  did 
not  think  they  could  escape  in  this  way  a  Christian  character ; 
citing  the  case  of  those  who  in  the  last  day  would  say, 
"  Lord,  when  saw  I  thee  an  hungred,"  &c.  ;  and  he  gave  the 
ultras  some  other  sharp  shots.  Mr.  "Weiss,  Mr.  Bartol,  Mr. 
Chadwick,  and  Mrs.  Howe,  also  spoke ;  but  I  heard  them 
imperfectU'.  I  did  not  feel  speciall}-  interested  in  the  con- 
flict, except  to  notice,  that,  as  I  said  in  the  outset,  Jesus 
seemed  to  be  on  the  defensive  in  this  meeting  of  Boston 
"  liberal  Christians,"  and  that  the  assailants  were  in  no  wise 
disposed  to  yield  even  to  such  stalwart  and  eloquent  men  as 
Channing,  Phillips,  and  Clarke. 


464  "WARRINGTON:" 


[1868,] 
RICHARD   H.    DANA,    JUN. 

It  is  Mr.  Dana's  misfortune  that  lie  comes  into  politics  so 
late.  He  went  to  sea  in  early  life,  then  studied  and  prac- 
tised law,  and,  probabl}',  has  not  been  well  able  to  afford 
much  of  his  time  to  legislative  service.  He  was  in  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1853,  and  was  reckoned  to  have  won 
more  laurels  there  than  anj^  of  the  younger  members,  except, 
perhaps.  Gov.  Boutwell.  He  has  been  United-States  district- 
attorney,  but  resigned  when  Johnson  went  over  to  the  enemj^ : 
so,  although  he  was  an  enemy  of  impeachment,  and,  after  its 
failure,  tried  by  legislative  resolution,  and  hy  a  dinner-invita- 
tion to  Mr.  Fessenden,  to  exalt  the  seven  recusant  senators 
at  the  expense  of  the  thirtj'-five  true  ones,  he  is  quite  un- 
tainted with  suspicion  of  friendliness  toward  the  President 
or  his  theories  and  polic}'.  Indeed,  his  policj'  had  no  more 
able  antagonist  in  Massachusetts  than  Mr.  Dana.  His 
speech  and  his  address  to  the  people  in  1865,  when  Johnson, 
by  his  North-Carolina  proclamation,  broached  his  re-action- 
ar}"  policy,  are  wonderfully'  able  documents.  In  the  legisla- 
ture of  1867-68,  Mr.  Dana  represented  Cambridge  in  the 
House.  He  performed  great  service  in  the  debate  on  the 
Soldiers' -bounty  Bill,  and  made  an  able  speech  on  the  usury 
laws,  which  showed  a  familiarity  with  the  writings  of  Ben- 
tham  and  Mill,  and  a  willingness  to  accept  their  philosophic 
teachings  on  this  subject,  and  which  was  also  remarkable  as  a 
specimen  of  his  admirable  stj-le,  and  his  skill  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  his  materials.  Mr.  Dana  is  an  admirable  narrator 
and  advocate.  He  is  a  field-marshal  of  words :  I  hardly 
know  a  man  so  skilful  as  he  in  their  use. 

He  also  astonished  his  friends  and  enemies  by  appearing 
as  a  radical  opponent  of  the  railroads,  or  rather  of  the  rail- 
road presidents  and  superintendents,  who  are  considered  by  S 
a  good  many  people  to  be  crowding  the  legislatures  and  the 
people  a  little  too  much  in  these  late  da^-s ;  and  a  contest 
with  whom  is  now  deemed  inevitable,  sooner  or  later.     These 


I 


PEW-PORTRAITS.  4G5 

free-trade  and  anti-corporation  notions  are,  however,  excep- 
tions to  Mr.  Dana's  general  conservatism :  tliis,  in  all 
political  directions,  is  extreme.  He  was  a  Free-Soiler  in 
1848,  and  stood  by  the  part}',  doing  it  good  service ;  3'et 
he  opposed  it  when  it  tried  to  drive  Judge  Loring  from  the 
bench :  and  his  advocacy  of  the  Constitution  of  1853  Avas 
coupled  with  so  many  apologies  and  excuses  for  the  radical 
character  of  some  of  its  provisions,  that  he  did  it  much 
more  harm  than  good.  About  the  3'ear  1851  or  1852  (and 
not  just  before  the  war,  as  one  of  the  Boston  papers  sa3-s) 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  Lord  Radstock,  an  English  friend, 
in  which,  while  professing  to  give  the  result  of  the  secret- 
ballot  experiment,  he  substantially  declared  against  the 
ballot  itself.^  He  opposed  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Sumner 
by  the  State  Convention  of  18G2  ;  made  some  xevy  bad 
speeches  on  national  politics,  the  emancipation  polic}',  &c., 
in  that  ^car,  as  well  as  in  18G1  and  1803,  and  in  the  State 
conventions  of  the  Republican  part}',  of  which  he  has  gen- 
erall}'  been  a  conspicuous  member ;  and  he  was  alwaj's 
counted  on,  and  justified  the  count,  for  an  earnest  and  per- 
sistent opposition  to  every  step  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
vigorous  and  robust  antislaver}'  policy.  His  conservatism 
has  been  modified  bj'  his  intense  partisanship,  his  general 
sympathy  with  the  antislavery  and  Republican  cause,  and 
his  hatred  of  Democrac}',  which  to  his  mind  is  synonj'mous 
with  insubordination  and  license  ;  but,  for  all  that,  he  has 
been  generally  reckoned  as  a  block  in  the  way  of  antislavery 
political  effort.  In  this,  however,  he  has  not  differed  from 
most  of  the  Cambridge  antislavery'  men,  even  those  who  b}' 
nature  are  radicals,  as  he  is  by  nature  the  reverse  of  that. 
The  old  Harvard  set,  ultra  and  vilel}^  proslavery,  have  been 

1  We  used  to  make  a  good  deal  of  opposition  to  Dana  on  account  of 
it;  but  I  think  we  sliall  lind  it  more  nearly  to  conform  to  oiiv  ideas  just 
now  (in  ISKi)  than  formerly.  The  ballot  is  not  so  much  a  yea-and-nay 
question  as  it  was.  AYhen  this  letter  was  written,  the  evil  to  be  reme- 
died WIS  intimidation:  now  it  is  fraud;  and  the  conditions,  so  to  speak, 
of  friendship,  or  opposition  to  it,  are  different  from  what  they  were  in 
laaO.  —  Letter  to  Mr.  Bird,  March  3,  187G. 


466  "WAERIJSrGTON:" 

put  out  of  sigM.  Instead  of  these,  we  have  Lowell  and 
Norton,  and  Pierce  and  Dana,  with  "The  North- American 
Review,"  and  its  weekly  tender,  "The  New- York  Nation," 
organs  of  a  Republicanism  whose  only  characteristics  are 
captiousness  and  namby-pambj-ism,  and  a  high-stepping 
affectation  of  contempt  for  men  just  as  honest  as  themselves, 
and  a  good  deal  better  acquainted  with  American  men  and 
American  institutions. 

STEPHEN   A.    DOUGLAS. 

Douglas's  visit  to  Boston  in  1860  excited  a  good  deal  of 
interest.  Douglas  was  a  rebel  and  a  bolter,  and  he  de- 
stroyed the  heretofore  invincible  Democratic  party.  The 
people  wanted  to  see  a  man  who  had  done  this  :  so  they  fol- 
lowed after  him,  and  exhibited  a  curiosity  to  hear  him  speak. 
There  was  a  great  crowd  in  Bowdoin  Square  to  hear  him 
speak.  It  was  largely  Irish  ;  but  as  the  Irish  had  votes,  and 
were  men  and  brethren,  in  spite  of  the  two-years'  amendment, 
it  had  a  certain  element  of  power.  I  did  not  hear  his  speech 
on  this  occasion  ;  but,  as  printed  in  the  papers,  it  was  one 
of  the  most  cheeky  productions  ever  delivered.  Douglas  was 
at  Cambridge,  and  sat  on  the  platform  during  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  the  exercises  in  the  church,  and  spoke  at  the 
dinner  in  Harvard  Ilall,  to  which  I  had  admission  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  class  of  1806  !  "When  this  class  was  called,  it 
being  scantil}-  represented,  an  honorable  senator  and  myself, 
neither  of  whom  graduated  at  an}-  college,  stepped  in,  and 
passed  muster  very  well.  I  got  a  scat  nearl}'  in  front  of  the 
little  giant.  Being  somewhat  engaged  during  the  first  part 
of  the  exercises,  I  did  not  have  an  opportunity'  to  see  whether 
he  lifted  his  food  to  his  mouth  upon  his  fork,  —  which,  I 
believe,  is  the  test  of  geutilit}',  —  but  of  course  he  did. 
Popular  sovereignty  cannot  mean  that  any  man  has  a  right 
to  scorn  the  dictates  of  fashion.  He  was  called  out  by 
Pres.  Feltou,  and  made  a  brief  and  pleasant  speech,  and 
was  exceedingly  well  received. 

Douglas's  friends  are  in  the  habit  of  telling  what  a  splendid 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  4G7 

head  he  had,  how  Websterian  he  looked,  and  all  that.  lie 
looked  well  enough,  but  not  at  all  like  a  great  man,  intellect- 
uall}',  phj'sicall}',  or  morally.  His  presence  bore  no  resem- 
blance whatever  to  that  of  Webster.  He  was  a  chunk}'  man, 
and  looked  like  a  prize-fighter  ;  though  I  am  not  sure  as  his 
arms  were  long  enough  for  that.  He  had  excellent  prize- 
fighting qualities, — pluck,  quickness,  and  strength;  adroit- 
ness in  shifting  his  positions,  avoiding  his  adversaria's  blows, 
and  hitting  him  in  unexpected  places  in  return.  His  logical 
power  was  not  great,  like  Calhoun's  ;  nor  his  power  of  state- 
ment, like  "Webster's  ;  nor  his  range  of  acquirements,  like 
John  Quincy  Adams's  ;  nor  his  eloquence,  like  Choate's  and 
Phillips's :  but  he  was  a  pluck}',  hard,  unscrupulous,  con- 
scienceless fellow,  who  was  a  hard  man  to  meet  in  debate, 
and  would,  to  the  superficial  observer,  seem  to  win  a  victory, 
or  to  hold  his  own  well  against  superior  men.  He  made  the 
common  mistake  of  over-estimating  the  importance  of  his 
specialit}',  —  squatter  sovereignty.  This  will  not  bear  exam- 
ination for  a  moment.  The  onl}'  way  he  contrived  to  defend 
it  against  the  interventionists  for  slaverj'  and  the  intervention- 
ists for  freedom  was  b}'  a  series  of  dodges  and  contradictions, 
which  the  unlearned  had  not  shrewdness  enough  to  detect,  and 
which  the  well-posted  would  not  take  the  trouble  to  expose. 
His  strong  point  was  his  will  to  have  his  own  way,  and  his 
resistance  to  the  demands  of  the  three  hundred  and  fort}'- 
seven  thousand  slaveholders,  more  or  less,  who  had  deter- 
mined that  no  man  should  politically  live  in  this  country 
who  would  not  do  their  bidding.  He  represented  man}'  bad 
elements  in  our  politics ;  but,  for  this*  one  service  he  has 
rendered,  he  deserves  to  be  gratefully  remembered. 

There  is  something  very  melanchol}'  in  the  event  of  Sena- 
tor Douglas's  death.  A  year  ago,  the  observer  would  sa}'  no 
man  in  this  country  had  greater  vitality  than  Douglas  ;  more 
dogged  pertinacit}'  and  determination,  like  that  of  Rodin  in 
"  The  Wandering  Jew,"  to  live  at  all  hazards.  Yet  he  has 
gone,  and  a  brief  newspaper  biograph}'  is  all  that  we  see. 


468  "WARRIXG  TOjST:  " 

It  seems  a  hard  tiling  to  saj ;  but  Douglas's  fault  was  a  lack 
of  conscience,  and  of  an  appreciation  of  conscience  in  the 
people.  He  had  independence,  heart}-  Western  qualities 
which  made  him  popular  with  the  people,  and  "genuine  old 
Teutonic  pluck :  "  but  he  could  not  see  (what  a  true  Demo- 
crat necessaril}'  sees)  that  the  people  of  the  free  parts  of 
the  United  States  believe  in  freedom  and  democracy ;  and, 
sooner  or  later,  they  will  come  up  to  the  requirements  of 
freedom  and  democracy.  Plis  failure  does  not  consist  in  not 
being  President ;  for  Buchanan  made  the  most  miserable 
failure  of  any  public  man  since  Aaron  Burr.  He  deserves, 
indeed,  grateful  recollection  for  breaking  up  the  Democratic 
part}-,  and  precipitating  the  free  States  into  the  rebellion 
against  the  slave-drivers,  which  they  are  now  waging  so  suc- 
cessfully. Among  the  instruments  in  the  hands  of  God  for- 
breaking  down  the  intolerable  t^-rann}-  which  ruled,  some- 
times through  him,  and  at  last  over  him,  and  all  the  rest  of 
us,  he  was  one  of  the  greatest.  And  let  him  be  honored  for 
this,  —  that  his  last  illness  was  caused  bj-  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  government  of  his  country.  The  lesson  of  his  life  is  not 
so  sad  as  that  of  TVebster. 


[1843-1860.] 
FREDERICK   DOUGLASS. 

Frederick  Douglass  is  a  man  of  a  high  order.  He  was  once 
a  slave,  having  escaped  four  or  five  years  ago.  "  I  am  one 
of  the  things  of  the  South,"  said  he  ;  and  drawing  himself 
up  to  his  full  height,  and  spreading  his  arms  wide,  he  ex- 
claimed, ^^ Behold  the  thing!"  Douglass  is  not  merel}'  a 
stx)ry-teller :  he  can  speak  of  the  workings  of  the  slave-s3-s- 
tem  from  observation.  But  that  is  not  all :  he  is  a  man  of 
strong  mind,  of  quick  thought,  and,  at  times,  eloquent.  In 
his  speeches  are  occasionally  passages  of  great  power. 

One  evening  he  gave  a  sermon  in  imitation  of  those 
preached  to  the  slaves  at  the  South,  taking  for  a  text  the 
words,  "  Servants,  obe}-  j'our  masters."     His  sermon  was 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  469 

just  such  a  one  as  we  should  suppose  would  be  preached 
where  slaver}'  exists,  and  where  the  master  patronizes 
religious  teachers  for  his  slaves,  principally  for  the  sake  of 
keeping  those  "  things"  in  order.  As  some  Southern  man 
said,  "  They  must  have  religion  enough  to  keep  them  from 
cutting  their  masters'  throats." 

In  Frederick  Douglass  and  George  Latimer  the  people  of 
the  North  have  a  specimen  of  the  serfs  of  the  South,  —  the 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  for  the  chivalry  par 
excellence  of  this  republic.  We  fanc}'  people  will  soon 
become  divested  of  the  idea  that  slavery  is  the  natural  and 
proper  position  of  such  men  as  these  ;  and  the}'  will  clamor 
louder  and  louder  for  their  release  from  bondage,  and  the 
recognition  of  their  rights.  Douglass  lost  caste  a  little 
among  the  Boston  abolitionists  because  he  refused  to  follow 
Mr.  Garrison  in  his  crusade  against  the  Constitution :  and 
his  great  speeches  made  here  on  the  antislavery  platform 
were  not  as  fully  reported  as  they  ought  to  have  been ;  at 
any  rate,  I  can  find  only  a  few  of  them.  He  delivered 
one  in  New  York,  in  1853,  before  the  American  and  For- 
eign Antislavery  Society,  —  an  organization  of  which  Arthur 
Tappan  was  president,  —  which  is  full  of  the  most  stirring 
eloquence. 

"  We  plead  for  our  rights,"  said  he,  "  in  the  name  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  and  we 
are  answered  by  our  countrymen  with  imprecations  and  curses. 
In  the  sacred  name  of  Jesus  we  beg  for  mercy  ;  and  the  slave- 
whip,  red  with  blood,  cracks  over  us  in  mockery.  We  invoke 
the  aid  of  the  ministers  of  Him  who  came  to  preach  deliver- 
ance to  the  cai)tives,  and  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bound  ;  and  from  the  loftiest  summits  of  this  ministry  comes 
the  inhuman  and  blasphemous  response,  that,  if  one  prayer 
Mould  move  the  almighty  arm  in  mercy  to  break  our  gall- 
ing chains,  that  prayer  would  be  withheld.  We  cry  for  help 
to  humanity,  —  a  conmion  humanity  ;  and  here,  too,  we  are 
repulsed.  American  humanity  hates  us,  scorns  us,  disowns 
and  denies  our  personality.     The  outspread  wing  of  Ameri- 


I 


470  "WARRINGTON:" 

can  Christianity  —  apparently  broad  enough  to  give  shelter 
to  a  perishing  world  —  refuses  to  cover  us.  To  us  its  bones 
are  brass,  and  its  feathers  iron.  In  running  thither  for  shel- 
ter and  succor,  we  have  onl}'"  fled  from  a  corrupt  and  selfish 
world  to  a  hollow  and  hypocritical  church,  and,  may  I  not 
add,  from  the  agonies  of  earth  to  the  flames  of  hell?  "  And 
then  he  went  on  to  say  that  even  this  bitter  language  was  less 
bitter  than  his  experience.  "I  am  alike  familiar  with  the 
whip  and  chain  of  slavery,  and  the  lash  and  sting  of  public 
neglect  and  scorn :  my  back  is  marked  with  the  one,  and  my 
soul  fretted  with  the  other.  My  neck  is  galled  with  both 
3'okes, — that  imposed  by  one  master,  and  that  imposed  by 
many  masters.  I  was  born  a  slave.  Even  before  I  made  part 
of  this  breathing  world,  the  scourge  was  plaited  for  my  back, 
and  the  fetters  were  forged  for  m}'  limbs.  .  .  .  Even  now, 
while  I  speak,  and  3'ou  listen,  the  work  of  blood  and  sorrow 
goes  on.     There  is  not  a  day,  not  an  hour  in  an}-  day,  not  a  » 

•minute  in  any  hour  of  the  day,  that  the  blood  of  m}'  people  ; 

does  not  gush  forth  at  the  call  of  the  scourge  ;  that  the  ten- 
derest  ties  in  humanity  are  not  sundered  ;  that  parents  are 
not  torn  from  children,  and  husbands  from  their  wives,  for 
the  convenience  of  those  who  gain  fortunes  by  the  blood  of 
their  souls."  And  again:  "Suppose  it  were  possil)le  to 
put  down  this  discussion,  what  would  it  avail  the  guilty 
slaveholder?  If  eveiy  antislavery  tongue  in  the  nation 
were  silent,  ever}'  antislaver}'  organization  dissolved,  every 
antislaverj^  press  demolished,  ever}^  antislavery  periodical, 
paper,  book,  tract,  pamphlet,  were  searched  out,  gathered 
together,  burnt  to  ashes,  and  these  ashes  given  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  still,  still,  the  slaveholder  could  have  no 
peace.  In  ever}^  pulsation  of  his  heart,  in  ever}'  throb  of  his 
life,  in  the  breeze  that  soothes,  and  the  thunder  that  startles, 
would  be  waked  up  an  accuser  whose  language  is,  '  Thou  art 
veril}'  guilt}'  concerning  thy  brother.'  " 

This  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  kind  of  eloquence  which 
aroused  the  conscience  of  the  people  before  the  antislavery 
question  got  into  politics,  and  aboUtion  became  the  principle 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  471 

of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  voting  men.  At  the  time  this 
speech  was  made,  there  were  sixty-four  political  antislavery 
newspapers  in  the  country  (twelve  of  which  were  in  Massa- 
chusetts) ,  and  only  five  papers  representing  what  was  popu- 
larly known  as  the  "  Garrisonian  "  party.  So  the  move- 
ment had  even  then  got  far  bej'ond  this  last-named  sect. 
But  the  eloquence,  which  was  "  dog-cheap  at  the  antislavery 
meetings,"  mostly  came  in  the  da3-s  of  Garrison  and  Phillips, 
and  Weld  (Theodore)  and  Stanton,  and  George  Thomp- 
son, and  Burleigh,  and  Alvan  Stewart,  and  that  class,  political 
and  non-political.  The  most  stirring  and  convincing  call  to 
repentance  I  heard  in  those  days  was  from  George  Thomp- 
son, who  spoke  or  preached  in  the  old  meeting-house  in 
Concord;  the  text  and  burden  of  his  discourse  being,  "O 
house  of  David,  thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Execute  judgment  in 
the  morning,  and  deliver  him  that  is  spoiled  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  oppressor,  lest  mj'  furj'  go  out  like  fire,  and  burn  that 
none  can  quench  it,  because  of  the  evil  of  3'our  doings." 


[1875.1 
HENRY   L.    DAWES. 

Mr.  Dawes  came  to  the  legislature  about  twenty  years 
ago  or  more,  a  fluent  and  smart  3'oung  Berkshire  Whig  ;  but 
just  about  that  time  the  AVhig  party  was  going  out  of  power 
here,  on  account  of  demoralization  brought  about  by  Mr. 
Webster's  proslaver}'  course.  He  fought  through,  however, 
with  Col.  Schouler,  Ezra  Lincoln,  Ilenr}'  P.  Fairbanks,  and 
the  others,  and  never  got  into  such  a  frame  of  mind  about 
Mr.  Webster  as  Albert  II.  Nelson  and  some  others  did ; 
Judge  Nelson  allowing  himself  even  to  run  for  presidential 
elector  on  the  Webster  ticket,  after  Mr.  Webster  died. 

I  do  not  remember  particularl}-  what  Mr.  Dawes  did  in 
the  House :  no  doubt  he  took  a  part  in  putting  through  the 
antislavery  resolutions  (which  had  by  that  time,  however,  got 
to  be  rather  stale),  and  in  opposing  the  ten-hour  project, 
and  other  kindred  schemes,   to  trouble  the  Cotton  Whigs. 


472  "WARRINGTON:" 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1853,  he  was  in  the 
same  company ;  fluent,  active,  and  voting  with  the  Whigs  all 
the  time.  He  did  not,  however,  fortunately  for  himself,  get 
so  cross  as  to  lose  his  balance,  and  persist,  till  too  late,  in 
calling  himself  a  Whig  ;  and  he  was  saved  from  joining  the 
Know-Nothings  ;  so  that  he  was  willing,  in  1855  and  1856, 
to  join  in  the  Republican  movement.  I  speak  more  particu- 
larly of  1856  (because  I  do  not  remember  about  his  course 
in  1855) ,  when,  under  Julius  Rockwell,  the  opponents  of  the 
Know-Nothings  tried  to  oust  Gov.  Gardner,  and  were  kept 
from  doing  so  by  the  old  Whig  remnant  (who  voted  for 
Mr.  S.  H.  Walley),  and  by  Wilson  and  Banks,  who  Avere  so 
anxious  to  fix  a  treaty  on  the  Fremont  matter,  that  they  could 
not  reform  the  State.  How  he  voted  in  the  Know-Nothing 
year  (1854)  I  do  not  know,  but  probably  for  Emory  AVash- 
burn  (Whig),  and  in  1855  for  Rockwell.  In  1856,  when 
chosen  to  Congress,  I  do  not  know  what  he  did  on  the  gov- 
ernorship ;  but  he  did  a  good  thing  in  rescuing  one  congres- 
sional district,  at  any  rate. 

Since  1856  the  Republicans  have  had  prett}-  clear  sailing ; 
and,  although  his  district  has  often  been  close,  the  part}'  drill, 
the  exigencies  of  the  protective-tariff  swindle  and  humbug, 
and  his  own  activit}',  have  kept  him  in  Congress,  and  in  a 
steadily-gaining  position.  The  worst  thing  I  remember 
about  him  is  a  speech  made  in  Berkshire  during  the  days  of 
reconstruction  ;  but  this  was  no  worse  than  a  good  man^^ 
good  Republicans  made  occasionally.  I  can  call  to  mind  the 
days  when  Gov.  Andrew  used  to  say  that  we  were  laying 
quite  too  much  stress  on  political  rights  for  the  emancipated 
slave,  and  that,  for  one,  he  should  be  well  satisfied  by  getting 
his  civil  rights.  I  cannot  remember  what  part  Mr.  Dawes 
took  in  the  abortive  compromise  measures  of  1861  :  proba- 
bly he  was  not  prominent.  He  came  to  the  eastern  part  of 
the  State  but  seldom  ;  and  this  has  been  one  of  the  secrets 
of  his  slow  measure  of  success  here.  In  Congress,  it  seems 
to  me,  he  has  been  very  useful.  I  don't  believe  that  he  has 
ever  been  bribed,  or  has  bribed  anybodj'  else,  except  in  that 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  473 

loose  and  indefinite  sense  wlaich  does  not  convey  any  idea  of 
personal  dishonest}';  viz.,  lie  has  been  a  tariff  man  of  the 
ultra  sort,  a  "duly  licensed  follower"  of  that  illogical  but 
not  necessaril}'  dishonest  band  of  robbers  who  believe  in  pro- 
tective tariffs.  He  ought  to  know  better  than  this  ;  but  is 
not  Francis  Bowen,  a  professor  at  Cambridge?  and  was  not 
Greeley,  the  leading  Republican  editor  of  the  country  up  to 
1872? 

Of  Mr.  Dawes's  recent  controversies  it  is  not  necessary' 
to  speak.  It  is  admitted,  I  believe,  that  he  has  been  an 
economist  in  Congress.  He  has  desired  a  place  in  the 
Senate,  but  has  not  tried  for  anybod3''s  seat,  —  not  "Wilson's, 
till  he  was  made  Vice-President;  nor  Sumner's,  so  long  as 
Sumner  lived.  He  was  beaten  by  Boutwcll,  and  lately  has 
tried  conclusions  with  Judge  Hoar,  and  now  has  won  the 
seat  for  six  3cars.  The  position  of  Mr.  Dawes  against 
Butler  in  1871  —  the  first  and  most  dangerous  —  was  most 
creditable  to  him.  He  came  from  home  promptly  at  the 
request  of  the  unorganized  leaders,  said  he  would  do  what 
he  could,  and  fulfilled  his  pledge  by  making  the  earliest 
stand,  —  a  stand  which,  although  he  was  beaten  on  the  im- 
mediate question  (as  it  was  almost  cei-taiu  he  would  be), 
gave  notice  to  Butler,  and  to  all  concerned,  that  there  was  to 
be  a  fight  to  the  last  against  the  Essex  member  of  Congress. 
His  services  were  invaluable ;  and  I  saw  no  reason  to  doubt 
that  they  were  inspired  b}'  a  strong  and  sincere  motive,  not 
only  to  save  the  party  from  Butler,  but  the  State  from  dis- 
grace. 

It  is  not  conclusive  against  him  tliat  he  is  not  so  great  a 
character  as  Sumner  was.  His  weak  points  are,  in  practical 
political  politics,  out  of  Congress,  and  not  in  it.  His  stump- 
speeches  are  adroit ;  and  this  is  about  all  that  can  be  said  in 
their  praise.  They  are  not  often  very  candid,  and  never  in- 
spired. He  still  believes  in  the  party,  — much  more,  indeed, 
than  he  does  in  Grant.  I  wish  he  would  stop  believing  in  or 
supporting  cither,  and  that  he  would  begin  his  career  on  the 
4th  of  March,  187G,  by  becoming  as  independent  of  j)artisan- 


474  "WARRINGTON:" 

ship,  caucuses,  and  nominations,  as  he  knows  he  ought  to 
be  ;  as  independent  as  he  generally  is  in  legislative  matters. 
On  several  occasions,  Mr.  Dawes  has  been  talked  of  for 
governor;  but  except  in  1860,  when  the  removal  of  Gov. 
Banks  to  Illinois  seemed  to  make  room  for  him,  no  strong 
eflfort  was  ever  made  in  his  behalf;  and  in  that  year  the 
splendid  antislavery  reputation  of  John  A.  Andrew  gave 
him  the  nomination,  after  a  short  and  sharp  struggle,  hy  a 
large  majority  in  convention.  Gov.  Andrew's  influence  at 
Washington  on  emancipation,  and  the  employment  of  colored 
soldiers,  gave  to  the  Commonwealth  her  "  war-governor," 
and  did  a  great  deal  towards  changing  the  method  and  theory 
on  which  the  war  was  carried  on. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  475 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BEIEF  BIOGRAPHIES  {Continued). 

[1872.] 

HORACE   GREELEY   AND   OTHER   NEW-YORKERS. 

A  MORE  pitiful  history  was  never  told  by  pen  of  historian 
or  novelist  or  poet  than  this  of  the  break-up  and  wreck  of 
the  renowned  editor.  Not  onl}-  is  hostility  disarmed,  but 
criticism  is  put  at  nought,  by  the  sorrowful  event,  —  sorrow- 
ful almost  beyond  precedent.  I  have  heard  stories  of  disaster 
falling  upon  whole  families,  —  the  death  of  a  father,  the  mad- 
ness of  a  mother,  and  the  imbecility-,  bankruptc}',  criminality', 
of  half  a  dozen  sons  and  daughters,  all  happening,  as  it 
were,  at  once ;  literally  the  whole  catalogue  of  disasters 
falling  within  a  year  or  two :  and  nothing  short  of  sucli  a 
household  wreck  as  this  seems  comparable  to  this  late  event. 
It  is  sad  enough. 

Poor  Mr.  Greeley !  Changing  the  point  of  view,  is  it  any 
wonder,  after  all,  that  so  great  a  power  in  politics  and  jour- 
nalism —  in  politics  through  journalism  —  for  nearly  forty 
years  should  deem  himself  not  only  justified  in  seeking  for 
the  presidency,  but  should  also  deem  liimself  the  fittest  man 
for  it ;  and  not  only  that,  but  should  labor  under  the  further 
illusion,  that  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  voters  wlio  had 
been  led  b}'  "The  Tribune"  into  Republican  politics,  and 
had,  under  its  inspiration,  won  Republican  victories,  state  and 
national,  would  be  eager  to  reward  its  editor  with  the  high- 
est oflice  in  their  gift?  He  believed  in  these  things.  Ilis  old 
letters  and  editorial  writings  show  that  he  felt  himself  neg- 


476  "WARRINGTON:" 

lected  and  unappreciated.  The  letter  to  Seward,  as  we  now 
read  it,  is  pathetic  in  its  expression  of  sorrow  and  indigna- 
tion at  being  obliged  to  go  back  to  his  "garret"  and  his 
"  crust,"  while  inferior  men  —  scoundrels  or  imbeciles  —  got 
comfortable  places  to  which  he  felt  himself  equal  and  enti- 
tled. He  had  been  always  unlucky  in  politics.  A  short 
time  in  Congress,  a  seat  in  the  Constitutional  Convention,  in 
neither  place  getting  much  fame,  or  doing  much  useful  work, 

—  this  was  about  all. 

Surrounded  a  good  deal  by  seal}'  politicians,  he  had  been, 
in  fact,  subdued  by  New- York  politics.  That  wretched  sys- 
tem of  political  ethics  so  peculiar  to  the  Empire  State, 
ever  since  the  da3's  of  Aaron  Burr,  clear  down  through  the 
days  of  the  Van  Burens  ;  through  the  Bucktail,  Clintonian, 
Barnburner,  Locofoco,  Tammany,  Regeuc}-  eras,  or  b}-  what- 
ever name  each  successive  epoch  of  corrupt  mediocrit}-  has 
been  called ;  every  state  and  cit}-  administration  a  ' '  succes- 
sion of  felonies  ; ' '  ever}'  court  an  engine  of  rascall}-  routine  ; 
ever}'  convention  a  scene  of  bargain  and  sale  ;  ever}'  legis- 
lature a  market,  where  senators  and  representatives  were  put 
up  at  auction  ;  every  delegation  sent  to  either  branch  of  Con- 
gress full  of  weak  or  wicked  men  (one  as  bad  as  the  other) , 

—  this  s}'stem  was  too  much  for  a  man  naturally  disposed 
to  be  a  Paleyite  and  an  expedientist.  It  is  hard  telling 
whether  New  York  has  been  made  so  politically  contempti- 
ble by  its  institutions,  or  by  its  men :  both  have  acted  upon 
the  other.  Its  constitution  of  1846,  its  legal  code,  its  general 
system,  were  a  departure  from  respectable  principles  of 
legislation  and  construction  such  as  prevailed  in  New  Eng- 
land, from  the  beginning,  under  the  influence  of  men  better 
trained  in  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  ;  and  her  people,  at 
the  same  time,  seem  to  have  been  aptly  fitted  by  nature,  tra- 
dition, and  education,  to  submit  to  whatever  blunders  her 
jurists  and  constitution-makers  fell  into. 

Palfrey  the  historian  long  ago  commented  upon  her  only 
great  men,  — Hamilton,  "  a  waif  from  the  West  Indies  to  her 
spirit-barren  strand;"  and  Rufus  King,  an  emigrant  from 


PEIT-POR  TRAITS.  477 

Massachusetts;  and  who  besides?  Biyant  and  Leggett, 
great  journalists,  the  first  of  Hampshire-count}-  parentage ; 
Silas  "Upright,  strong  minded  and  bodied,  but  prett}-  much 
like  Marcy  and  the  rest  in  all  political  attributes ;  Michael 
Hoffman,  a  tradition ;  Seward,  Weed,  Granger,  Fillmore, 
and  so  on  down  to  Feuton  and  Conkling,  —  Seward  the  great- 
est of  the  lot,  and  he  a  man  of  stratagem  and  machinery 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  Is  it  an}-  wonder  that  Mr. 
Greeley  was  conquered  by  institutions  and  men  like  these? 
So,  while  "  The  Tribune,"  fighting  antislaverj'  battles,  pre- 
pared the  country,  more  particularl}'  the  West,  for  the 
irrepressible  conflict,  —  the  millions  who  read  it  being  out 
of  reach  of  Xew-York  influences,  and  open  to  all  the  vigor- 
ous teachings,  the  iterations  and  reiterations,  j-ear  after  year, 
of  its  great  editorial  chief,  —  he  was  himself  weakened  and 
shorn  hy  contact  with  the  rascals  of  the  convention  and  the 
committee-room  ;  and  his  paper,  not  rc-cnforced  b}-  a  sturdy 
example  of  individual  independence,  and  contempt  for  office, 
such  as  Mr.  Greeley  might  have  set,  furnished  the  curious 
spectacle  of  a  great  intellectual  organ  without  any  immedi- 
ate constituency ;  Xew  York  Cit}*  and  State  being  for  the 
last  decade,  on  the  average,  more  hopelessly  on  the  wrong 
side  than  it  was  when  the  first  number  was  issued.  Clearl}'^, 
New  York  was  too  strong  for  Mr.  Greelc}'.  A  man  so 
democratic  b}'  instinct  and  temperament,  so  open  to  sugges- 
tions of  reform  in  his  youth  and  earl}-  manhood,  so  kiudlj^ 
in  his  nature,  so  industrious,  so  incapable  of  fatigue,  so 
accessible,  so  much,  in  fact,  lil:e  America  itself,  in  his  free- 
dom from  convcntionalit}-,  his  vigor,  his  enteqirise,  force, 
directness,  and  general  style,  could  not  have  alighted  upon 
so  unpromising  a  place  as  New-York  City.  Elsewhere,  to 
be  sure,  he  would  not,  perhaps,  have  established  so  great  a 
paper  ;  but  almost  anywhere  else  he  would  have  been  a  hap- 
pier, better,  and  more  useful  man. 

It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  he  can  properly  be  called  a 
philanthropist  or  a  reformer  ;  though  he  had,  at  times,  the 
philanthropic  and  the  refomung  element.     He  neither  loved 


478  "WARRINGTON: " 

the  individual  man,  nor  man  in  the  aggregate,  to  any  ex- 
traordinary^ degree.  He  was  b}'  no  means  a  profound  tliinker 
on  political  or  social  subjects.  At  most,  he  was  onl}'  willing 
to  give  such  subjects  a  fair  chance  and  fair  plaj-,  and  latterly 
not  always  even  this ;  and  he  loved  himself  too  well  to  be 
willing  to  do  much  more  for  individuals  than  to  tuni  them 
off  with  good  advice,  or  to  get  rid  of  their  importunity  by 
gift  or  loan  which  he  was  too  busy  to  deny  them.  He  had 
not  that  two-o'clock-in-the-morning  courage  which  Napoleon 
said  a  great  general  must  have,  no  real  faith  in  ultimate 
results :  but  then  he  was  not  to  blame  for  this ;  for  it  was 
temperamental,  in  part.  How  could  he  help  being  disheart- 
ened b}'  Bull  Run?  HoAv  could  he  help  being  in  despair 
when  Harry  Clay  was  defeated,  as  he  thought,  by  frauds  iu 
Pennsj'lvania  and  Louisiana?  And  withal,  with  that  shrink- 
ing from  blood  which  has  made  him  and  kept  him  (longer 
than  it  has  kept  him  in  any  other  direction)  an  enem}'  of 
the  gallows,  how  could  he  help  thinking  to  himself,  after 
every  great  disaster  during  the  civil  war,  "  How  long  shall 
this  last  ?  —  Avhat  can  I  do  to  stop  it  ?  "  Did  it  not  seem 
to  nearl}'  ever}'  man,  at  times,  during  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  years  of  the  war,  that,  as  Mr.  Greeley  expressed  it  in 
a  private  letter,  the  administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  like 
that  theological  work  of  which  the  heading  of  one  chapter 
was  "Hell,"  and  of  the  next,  "Hell  continued"?  How 
man}'  men,  governors,  senators,  statesmen,  were  hurrying  to 
"Washington,  month  after  month,  to  give  "old  Abe"  the 
best  advice,  and  then  hurrying  back  to  curse  him  for  not 
taking  it? 

Horace  Greeley  had  a  splendid  funeral.  The  sad  circum- 
stances of  his  death  have  softened  all  his  enemies,  and  buried 
in  affliction  all  his  friends  ;  so  that  there  is  a  plausibility  in 
the  remark,  that  he  is  fortunate  to  get  rid  of  life  after  such  a 
sad  ending  to  his  political  aspirations,  such  a  traged}-  in  his 
famil}'  relations.  But  it  seems  to  me  the  saddest  death  we 
ever  had  in  the  country,  a  sheer  and  unmitigated  disaster, 
black  and  tragical  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  a  piti- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  479 

ful,  most  pitiful  8tor3^     If  there  is  an}-  thing  more  useful  to 
be  said  about  it,  I  cannot  imagine  what  it  is. 

Upon  a  man  constituted  lilie  Mr.  Greelej',  abuse  and 
praise  which  were  unmerited  and  extravagant  had  just  about 
the  same  effect,  the  one  as  the  otlier  ;  and,  now  that  he  is 
dead,  no  allowance  seems  to  be  made  —  perhaps  none  can 
be  made  —  for  that  common  sense  of  the  aggregate  popula- 
tion which  sifts  all  such  criticism,  and  comes  to  a  result 
prett}^  nearl}'  correct.  But  "  the  pity  of  it,  the  pity  of  it !  " 
this  all  can  agree  to.  Whether  Hamlet  was  sane  or  insane, 
who  can  tell?  but  we  all  know  tliat  his  life  and  his  death 
were  tragical. 

[1872.] 
PRES.    GRANT. 

Pres.  Grant  is  a  dull  creature,  with  apparently  not  the 
slightest  idea  of  the  office  which  he  fills,  except  to  have  a  good 
time  while  he  keeps  it,  and,  when  he  leaves  it,  to  be  comfort- 
ably "  well  off," —  he  and  his  friends.  From  the  moment 
when  he  nominated  a  New- York  muck-rake  for  secretary  of 
the  treasury,  and  recommended  a  repeal  of  the  law  of 
Washington's  administration  to  allow  him  to  be  confirmed, 
down  to  this  day,  he  seems  to  have  had  no  thought  except 
to  be  "on  his  make."  He  is  not  bad,  not  dishonest  per- 
sonally, not  ambitious,  but  simply  unfit.  His  administra- 
tion will  be  illustrious  in  our  annals  for  this  unfitness,  and 
for  nothing  else. 

It  ma}^  be  said  that  many  of  our  Presidents  have  been 
unfit,  and  that  great  numbers  of  people  have  insisted  that 
every  one  of  them,  from  Washington  to  Lincoln,  has  been 
so.  True  enough.  Perhaps  Grant's  unfitness  is  not  worse 
than  the  unfitness  of  others ;  certainly  it  is  not  worse  than 
that  of  Buchanan  or  Johnson  this  will  be  readil}'  enough ; 
admitted.  "The  w'orld  spirit  is  a  good  swimmer;  floods 
cannot  drown  him :  "  so  is  the  national  spirit.  But,  if 
we  allow  the  unfit  men  to  have  eight  years  apiece,  when 
shall  we  have  a  chance  to  begin  on  the  fit  ones  ?    We  who 


480  "  WARRING  TON: " 

are  fighting  against  Grant's  renomination  are,  in  fact,  fight- 
ing the  battle  of  capacity  against  mediocrity  everywhere, 
and  the  battle  of  thousands  of  Republicans  who  now  go 
against  us,  and  look  upon  Cincinnati  with  horror.  For  it 
needs  no  ghost  from  the  grave  to  tell  the  average  Republican, 
that,  if  Grant  is  rechosen,  his  second  administration  is 
likely  to  be,  I  will  not  say  worse  than  his  first,  but  one 
which  will  be  hardly  Republican  even  in  name.  Whatever 
happens  in  November,  the  party  which  attends  the  next 
inauguration  ceremony  will  be  neither  Republican  nor  Demo- 
cratic, neither  protective  nor  free-trade,  neither  reform  nor 
re-actionary,  neither  State-rights  nor  ultra  national,  neither 
antislavery  nor  proslavery,  neither  radical  nor  conservative  : 
it  will  be  largely  personal ;  for  this  personal  tendency  is  not 
to  be  got  rid  of  by  one  struggle,  any  more  than  Tamman^-- 
ism  was  got  rid  of  by  a  Republican  victory  in  New  York. 
We  should  be  no  better  off  with  a  new  Republican  candidate. 
That  depends  upon  who  he  is.  The  thing  which  ought  to  be 
done  is  to  discontinue  personal  government,  and  bring  back 
political  government. 

Grant  has  not  the  slightest  comprehension  of  political 
government.  His  administration  is  a  personal  one.  It  is 
said  that  he  has  carried  out  Republican  principles  by  sup- 
pressing the  Ku-Klux,  and  prosecuting  the  bigamists  of 
Utah.  These  are  not  Republican  principles,  nor  any  other 
principles.  The  Ku-Klux  are  suppressed  onl}'  for  the  time 
being.  So  have  been  the  suppressing  measures  of  England 
in  Ireland  for  the  last  hundred  years,  perhaps.  That  is  to 
sa}',  having  begun  by  mismanagement  and  stupidity,  and 
these  having  brought  tumult  and  outrage,  the  government  is 
compelled,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  to  suppress  the  latter. 
vSooner  or  later,  however,  the  work  of  pacification  must 
begin.  Martial  law,  throughout  the  two  administrations  of 
Grant,  only  postpones,  for  the  sake  of  a  growling  and  uncer- 
tain peace,  the  day  of  good- will  eight  3'ears  longer.  In  this 
point  of  view,  the  recent  proceedings  in  South  Carolina, 
though  needful,  are  not  statesmanship.     The  same  may  be 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  481 

said  of  tlie  prosecutions  in  Utali :  they  only,  for  the  sake  of 
airing  our  national  virtue,  postpone  indefinitely  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  evil  and  the  scandal  at  Salt  Lake.  If  this  is 
Republican  statesmanship,  the  less  of  it  the  better. 

I  know  there  is  apparently  no  grpat  governmental  issue. 
Tammany  ism,  a  ver}^  indefinite  term,  is  the  most  promis- 
ing one.  If  an}'  man  represents  Tamuian3'isin  here,  it  is 
Butler.  He  organized  cheating  and  corruption  in  his  late 
canvass  as  it  never  was  oi'ganized  l^efore  in  this  State.  Is 
the  retention  of  Tom  Murphy,  by  Boutwell's  advice  and 
consent,  a  sign  that  the  President  intends  to  make  war  on 
Tammanyism?  Is  there  any  indication  of  a  purpose  to  re- 
move the  office-holders  from  the  control  of  members  of  Con- 
gress, and  the  members  from  the  control  of  the  office-holders  ? 
—  the  onl}-  important  feature  of  the  civil-service  reform  ;  an}' 
care  taken,  that  when  honest  men  die,  or  rogues  run  away 
from  the  Washington  offices,  their  places  shall  be  well  filled? 
The  trouble  with  Grant,  in  connection  with  our  politics, 
is,  that  he  is  a  weak  man,  and,  like  all  weak  men,  is  the 
prey  of  jealousies  and  intrigues,  and  cannot  be  trusted  to  do 
right,  or  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  mass  of  the  party, 
without  constant  watching.  Butler  has  nothing  else  to  do 
but  to  watch  him :  other  men  have  more  congenial,  if  not 
more  necessary,  occupations.  Who  wants  to  send  a  senator, 
a  representative,  or  a  deputation,  to  Washington  every  mouth 
to  keep  the  President  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  Ben 
Butler  ?  It  does  not  pay ;  for,  sooner  or  later,  you  will  be 
caught  napping.  A  President  who  has  not  instinct  to  see 
and  know  what  Butler  is,  and  what  he  wants,  is  not  fit  for 
his  place. 

Grant  wins  politically,  as  he  won  his  battles,  by  sheer  pre- 
ponderancy  of  the  forces  under  him,  and  in  spite  of  blun- 
ders and  incapacity  on  all  hands.  He  wins  because  the 
Democratic  party  has  not  yet  been  chastened  by  affliction  to 
know  wisdom,  and  because  it  is  still  too  near  by  a  year  or 
two  to  the  close  of  the  war  for  the  people  to  forget  its 
career. 


I 


f 


482  "  WARBINGTON: " 

WILLIAM   LLOYD    GARRISON   AND   THE    "  GARRISONIANS." 

The  influence  of  "the  Garrisonians,"  so  called,  has 
always  been  overrated  both  by  abolitionists  and  hunkers. 
Their  strength  la}'  in  their  appeals  to  the  conscience  of  the 
people,  and  their  trenchant  and  general!}-  impartial  modes  of 
dealing  with  religious  and  political  bodies.  But  they  were 
alvrays  limited  b}-  the  foolish  dogma  —  into  which  the}-  were 
led  by  Mr.  Garrison,  but  which  Mr.  Phillips  was  also  re- 
sponsible for  —  relative  to  the  necessarily  proslavery  character 
of  the  Constitution,  and  the  duty  of  repudiating  it,  and  of 
acting  outside  of  politics.  Though  their  judgment  as  to  par- 
ties and  churches  v-as  right,  their  whole  method  of  dealing 
with  politics  and  religion  was  unphilosophical  and  absurd. 
Not  they,  but  the  political  antislaver}'  men,  have  done  the 
great  work  of  reforming  the  opinion  of  the  country  ;  and  the 
man  who,  away  back  of  1840,  first  cast  a  vote  against  the  pro- 
slavery  parties,  came  nearer  to  the  root  of  the  matter  than 
Garrison  or  Phillips. 

The  antislavery  party  of  this  State  has  exercised  a  great 
influence  upon  our  politics,  though  it  never  alone  carried 
elections.  It  never,  indeed,  cast  a  larger  vote  in  any  year 
than  it  did  in  1848,  when  it  first  became  formidable.  I  be- 
lieve Mr.  Stephen  C.  Phillips  received  in  that  year  some 
38,000  votes  for  governor,  and  the  next  year  something  less. 
Mr.  Palfrey,  who  was  the  next  candidate,  fared  no  better. 
In  1852  Horace  Mann's  vote  went  up  to  near  37,000,  leav- 
ing more  than  a  hundred  thousand  against  him.  Gen.  Wil- 
son himself  next  tried  his  luck,  and  received  29,000  out 
of  129,000  votes.  Next  year  occurred  the  Know-Xothing 
stampede ;  and  Wilson  received  6,483  votes,  and  Judge 
Allen  and  scattering  some  1,200  more.  The  next  year 
(1855)  was  the  first  year  of  recovery  from  Know-Nothingism, 
and  Mr.  Rockwell  received  the  old  vote  of  36,000.  The 
year  1856  may  be  styled  the  year  of  acquiescence ;  but, 
without  organization,  5,625  men  voted  for  Josiah  Quincy, 
while  Gardner  received  92,000.     In  1857  Gardner  received 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  483 

37,000,  and  Banks  62.000.  The  Free-Soil  party,  though 
only  36,000  strong,  broke  clown  and  dispersed  tlie  great 
Whig  part}'  of  Massachusetts  ;  sent  Mr.  Webster  into  retire- 
ment ;  laid  upon  the  shelf  a  great  number  of  Whig  politi- 
cians,—  such  as  R.  C.  Winthrop,  Mr.  Hillard,  and  Otis  P. 
Lord,  —  where  the}-  are  likely  to  remain  ;  disorganized  the 
Democratic  party,  and  withdrew  from  it  the  best  men  it  had, 
such  as  Banks,  Boutwell,  and  Knowlton ;  elected  Charles 
Sumner  twice  to  the  Senate,  and  Henry  Wilson  once  ;  and 
did  much  toward  reforming  the  Constitution  and  the  legisla- 
tion of  the  State.  It  did  many  things  which  were  not  justi- 
fiable ;  but,  on  the  whole,  its  record  is  one  which  it  ma}-  well 
be  proud  of 

The  antislaver}-  party  never  made  any  headway  so  long  as 
it  kept  voting  for  Whigs  and  Democrats  who  answered 
their  questions  b}'  letter  in  unexceptionable  terms,  and, 
after  the}'  were  chosen  to  ofllce,  were  obliged  to  Aiolate  their 
pledges.  It  was  only  when  they  began  to  organize,  and  vote 
for  men  who  did  not  need  to  give  pledges,  that  the  political 
machines  began  to  crack  and  give  way.  The  Free-Soil 
movement  of  1848  was  the  most  important  one  that  ever 
this  country  witnessed  in  its  results  ;  but  the  first  man  who 
ever  cast  a  Liberty-party  vote  was  the  wisest  politician  of 
his  time,  because  lie  was  the  first  man  to  see  the  inevitable 
future,  and  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  prepare  for  and  hasten 
it.  Then,  again,  a  great  deal  of  the  rightful  and  useful 
power  of  "the  Garrisonians  "  was  wasted.  "The  Libera- 
tor," for  various  reasons  not  discreditable  to  Mr.  Garrison, 
had  but  a  small  circulation;  but  "The  Antislavery  Stand- 
ard," which  was  always  well  edited,  —  that  is,  was  always 
an  interesting  paper,  —  might  have  had  a  large  circulation, 
and  been  ten  times  as  useful  as  it  was.  if  tlie  organization 
had  had  any  api)reciation  of  the  proper  methods  of  agita- 
tion. But  setting  out  with  the  idea  that  only  a  very  small 
number  of  persons,  at  best,  could  have  the  right  notions, 
the  inanngers  were  content,  apparently,  to  send  "  Tlie  Stand- 
ard "  to  abolitionists  (and  to  public  men,  perhaps),  Avithout 
lelting  the  people  have  it. 


484  "  WARRING  TON: " 

The  Antislavery  Society  was  not  half  so  important  a  body 
as  it  pretended  to  be.  All  its  consequence  was  derived  from 
the  personal  character  and  power  of  individual  members, 
—  Mr.  Garrison's  dogmatic  and  domineering  energ}',  Mr. 
Phillips's  eloquence  and  unflinching  truthfulness  to  the  high- 
est idea  of  autislaver}^,  Mr.  Pillsbury's  prophetic  and  mina- 
tory appeals  to  the  wrath  to  come.  It  is  doubtless  true,  that 
the  political  antislavery  movement  had  its  germ  in  the  moral 
agitation  of  Garrison  and  his  early  followers  ;  but,  without 
the  political  organization,  slavery  would  to-day  have  been 
stronger  than  ever  before.  And  it  is  especially  mortifying 
to  antislavery  politicians  to  find  these  earl^-  abolitionists,  as 
soon  as  they  become  politicians,  taking  the  conservative  side 
of  all  questions,  and  not  only  repudiating  their  old  constitu- 
tional doctrines,  but  lowering  the  moral  standard,  by  which 
only  can  a  healthy  political  organization  be  kept  up. 

Mr.  Garrison  is,  by  the  antislavery  politicians,  reckoned, 
on  the  whole,  the  most  politic  man  of  his  sect.  He  is  uni- 
formly tolerant,  sometimes  more  than  just,  towards  the  men 
who  are  in  political  life  ;  and  now  that,  to  use  his  epigram- 
matic but  not  quite  satisfactory- plea,  "death  and  hell  have 
seceded,"  and  non-resistauce  is  in  abeyance,  I  shall  expect 
to  see  him  brought  forward  in  his  ward  as  a  candidate  for 
representative  to  the  General  Court,  to  begin  with,  and  after- 
wards for  something  higher,  if  there  is  any  thing  higher, 
which  I  feel  myself  bound  to  doubt.  Once  in  the  legisla- 
ture, I  should  expect  to  see  him  one  of  the  most  conservative 
of  members,  feeling  his  way  cautiously  along,  and  checking 
the  young,  ardent,  and  radical  men.  After  he  gets  a  taste 
of  public  life,  he  may  like  to  get  into  Congress  ;  and  I  would 
trust  him  to  organize  a  ward  as  well  as  the  best  of  the  man- 
agers. After  a  term  or  two  at  "Washington,  and  the  attain- 
ment of  a  strong  reputation  as  a  safe  man,  he  would  do  for  a 
cabinet  or  diplomatic  situation,  and  would  finally  come  home 
to  be  the  Nestor  of  his  neighborhood,  and  die  full  of  years 
and  honors,  and  be  borne  to  the  tomb  by  twelve  "principal 
citizens." 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  485 

J.    Q.    A.    GRIFFIN. 

I  knew  Mr.  Griffiu  before  1848  ;  I  think,  when  he  was  in 
George  F.  Farle^-'s  office  at  Groton.  He  used  to  write  for 
"The  Lowell  Journal"  occasionally;  having,  even  then,  a 
capital  newspaper  st3-le,  an  admirable  humor,  and  a  penchant 
for  "  pitching  in,"  which  came  often  in  play  upon  the  dul- 
lards and  fogies  of  the  time.  He  left  the  Whigs  in  1848, 
with  some  others  (Mr.  Farley  among  the  rest),  and  ever 
afterwards  was  a  radical  of  the  radicals.  He  soon  came 
down  to  Charlestown,  where  he  opened  an  office,  and  rapidly 
got  into  a  good  business.  He  was  chosen  to  the  Know- 
Nothing  legislature  of  1855  ;  not,  I  am  glad  to  saj',  out  of 
an}'  love  on  his  part  for  that  school  of  politics,  but  because 
the  people  of  Charlestown  had  an  annexation  question  on 
their  hands,  which  thoy  urged  him  to  attend  to  ;  and  because, 
also,  there  was  a  growing  apprehension,  on  the  part  of  some 
of  the  leaders,  that  their  prejudices  against  lawyers  were 
canning  them  so  far,  that  i\\ey  were  likely  to  bo  poorlj^  off 
for  legislative  talent  in  the  House. 

I  did  not  see  much  of  the  legislature  of  1855,  being 
engaged  in  blaclfguarding  it  from  the  outside;  but  "the 
brethren  of  the  mystic  tie"  remember  to  this  day  how  Mr. 
Griffin  drove  Joe  Hiss  out  of  the  House,  and  broke  down  all 
the  apologies  for  him  and  for  his  school.  From  that  day,  at 
least,  ho  gave  the  Know-Nothiugs  no  mercy,  and  he  received 
as  little  from  them.  I  remember  a  scene  at  Worcester,  when 
some  of  the  worst  of  them  tried  to  interrupt  and  put  him  down 
while  speaking  to  the  Repnl)licaus  in  caucus  or  convention. 
Of  course,  they  only  tried  ;  for  I  do  not  remember  that  any 
man  ever  got  the  advantage  of  him  in  debate.  His  powers 
of  sarcasm  wore  quite  unequalled  in  this  region.  His  pres- 
ence of  mind  was  unfailing ;  his  argumentative  powers  equal 
to  almost  an}'^  emergency ;  his  reading  extensive,  and  from 
the  best  authors  ;  and  his  aptness  in  applying  the  results  of 
it  was  surprising  to  friends  and  enemies.  He  most  conspicu- 
ously showed  his  skill  in  political  debate  in  the  contest  with 


486  "  WARRINGTON: " 

Mr.  Dana  at  "Worcester  in  1862,  and  justified  the  sagacity 
which  selected  him  for  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions, with  the  knowledge  that  the  contest  over  Mr.  Sumner's 
nomination  would  be  a  warm,  and  might  be  a  doubtful  one. 
Mr.  Dana  never  showed  greater  coolness  and  adroitness,  not 
even  in  that  celebrated  triumph  of  mind  over  matter, — his 
contest  with  A.  O.  Brewster  iu  the  convention  of  I800  ;  but 
Mr.  Griffin  showed  himself  to  be  fully  his  equal.  To  be 
sure,  the  majority  was  w^ith  him  ;  but  it  needed  just  his  skill 
and  courage  to  rally  it,  and  make  it  victorious  over  the  well- 
planned  attack  of  the  district-attorne3\  The  blunders  of 
18G1  were  then  retrieved  ;  and  the  Republicans  of  Massa- 
chusetts have  been,  perhaps,  too  strong  ever  since. 

Mr.  Griffin  represented  Maiden  in  1859  and  1860  ;  and  in 
1859  occurred  the  contest  over  his  seat,  which  resulted  so 
unexpectedly  iu  his  being  allowed  to  retain  it  against  the 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Inquiry,  and  the  opinion  of  all 
or  most  of  the  law'^ers.  In  the  interval  between  the  regular 
and  the  extra  session,  he  had  taken  the  office  of  clerk  of  the 
courts,  but,  becoming  tired  of  it,  resigned,  and  came  back 
to  his  seat  at  the  extra  session.  The  question  was,  whether 
his  seat  had  become  vacant  bj'  his  accepting  the  office.  The 
House  permitted  him  to  remain  ;  but  w'ith  all  my  friendli- 
ness towards  him,  and  m}-  natural  contempt  for  precedents, 
and,  moreover,  with  due  regard  to  the  shrewd  points  which 
he  raised  in  his  owai  defence,  I  have  never  been  full}-  con- 
vinced that  the  House  was  not  somewhat  m3-stified  and  led 
astra}-  bj'  his  superior  skill  in  the  debate  over  his  antago- 
nists. I  presume  no  case  like  it  will  arise  for  a  century  to 
come  :  so  no  great  harm  was  done,  even  if  the  decision  was 
wrong. 

I  did  not  often  see  Mr.  Griffin  in  the  courts.  He  had  a 
large  practice,  and  worked  immensely  in  ill-ventilated  court- 
rooms, to  the  ruin  of  his  health,  never  very  good  and  strong. 
He  was  independent  in  his  bearing  towards  the  judges,  and 
was  accustomed  to  saj-  that  the  Supreme  Court  never  treated 
him  so  well  as  they  did  after  he  defeated  the  bill  to  increase 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  487 

their  salaries.  In  his  bearing  with  all  men,  indeed,  he  was 
independent  and  self-sustaining.  It  used  to  be  said  of  him, 
that  he  loved  intellectual  fence  and  hard  hitting  so  well,  that 
he  would  hit  a  friend,  if  a  foe  did  not  appear  at  the  right 
time ;  and  this  reputation,  whether  well  merited  or  not, 
doubtless  injured  his  prospects  whenever  he  became  a  candi- 
date for  office.  lie  had  none  of  the  arts  of  the  demagogue  ; 
and,  when  the  eight-hour  men  called  on  him  (he  being  a 
candidate  for  the  nomination  to  Congress)  to  ask  him  as  to 
his  views  on  that  subject,  he  coollj'  and  sarcasticall}-  ex- 
pressed his  surprise.  "Eight  hours!"  said  he:  "  whj',  I 
never  thought  of  being  for  more  than  seven."  Neither  had 
he  what  are  generally  called  popular  manners.  He  did  not  go 
much  to  dinners  or  to  public  places,  except  with  his  famil}-, 
to  whom  I  msiy  say,  as  m}-  ci'owning  tribute  to  his  worth,  he 
was  fondly  and  devotedly  attached.  As  a  man  and  a  citizen, 
he  was  above  reproach  ;  faithful  in  all  the  relations  of  life, 
public  and  private.  lie  died  consciousl3",  peacefully,  and  un- 
regretfully,  testifying  to  the  sufficiency  of  character,  and  the 
public  and  private  virtues,  to  bring  a  man  safely  and  tri- 
umphantly thi-ough  the  last  ordeal. 


[Feb  2G,  1876.] 
DU.    SAMUEL    G.    HOWE. 

I  doubt  whether  a  more  useful  man,  outside  of  those  who 
filled  high  public  station,  ever  lived  in  the  State  ;  surely  no 
one  in  recent  3ears.  To  group  our  public  men  a  little  differ- 
ently from  usual,  he  belonged  to  that  class  of  politician  and 
philanthropist  combined  which  included  Horace  Mann,  John 
A.  Andrew,  and  Robert  Kautoul,  jun.,  and  Mr.  Sumner 
himself  in  the  earl}'  i)art  of  his  career.  He  was  the  best 
combination  I  know  of  both  characters.  His  philanthropy 
was  tempered  b}'  a  strong  tendency  and  innneuse  good  sense 
in  the  line  of  governing,  albeit  he  was  quite  enough  of  a 
filibuster  and  a  liberator  for  a  man  over  seventy  j-ears  old. 

Mr.  Mann  was  om-  great  reformer  in  educational  aflairs ; 


488  "WARRINGTON:" 

and  Dr.  Howe,  against  a  good  deal  of  Boston  opposition, 
placed  a  statue  of  Mann  in  the  yard  of  the  State  House, 
where  he  and  Mr.  Webster  {captatores  verborum)  stand,  as 
it  were,  criticising  one  another.^  Mr.  Rantoul  was  the 
strongest  man  in  opposition  to  capital  punishment ;  but  his 
politics  would  not,  till  just  before  he  died,  allow  him  to  get 
into  Congress.  Sumner  took  np  the  prison  and  peace  ques- 
tions. I  do  not  here  speak  of  Garrison  and  Phillips,  who 
were  not  in  partisan  politics  ;  or  of  the  great  Dr.  Channing 
and  Theodore  Parker,  whose  lives  were  mainl}-  devoted  to  a 
reform  in  theolog}'.  Howe  was  the  friend  of  the  liberal  side 
in  all  these  questions. 

They  say  every  man  has  his  "conservative  "  side,  meaning 
not  to  quibble,  but  by  this  word  meaning  sluggish  and  back- 
ward. Dr.  Howe  was*  not  so  on  any  of  these  questions. 
Equall}'  well  balanced  was  he  upon  all.  He  was  not  a  poet, 
like  Whittier ;  but  would  ver}^  likely  have  been  one  of  Dr. 
Channing' s  or  Mr.  Buckminster's  first  men,  if  he  had  not 
been  a  liberator  in  Greece  or  Poland.  I  called  him  a  useful 
man  ;  but  he  was  not,  therefore,  a  dull  man.  The  companion 
of  those  men,  and  of  Emerson,  Holmes,  Judge  Hoar,  Lowell, 
Appleton,  and  George  T.  Davis,  could  hardly  be  that ;  and, 
in  point  of  fact,  he  was  lively,  and  full  of  anecdote,  seeing 
the  unjitness  as  well  as  the  fitness  of  things  (which  I  will 
fling  at  3'ou  as  a  definition  of  wit  and  sense  together)  ;  and  I 
count  it  no  small  compliment  that  he  often  left  the  club 
stjded  the  "  Atlantic,"  and  came  back  to  the  "  Bird,"  in  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon.  He  was  alwaj's  straightforward 
and  to  the  point,  and  never  eloquent  or  eloquential.  It  must 
have  been  in  1846  that  he  ran  for  Congress,  saying  in  his 
letter  that  he  might  as  well  "  fill  a  ditch  "  as  anybody.  This 
was  in  the  patriotic  days  of  the  Mexican  war. 

Dr.  Howe  was  the  famous  benefactor  of  the  blind,  and  in 
his   early   life   went   to  Greece,  and  fought  bravely  in   the 


1  "  Warrington"  called  Webster's  statue,  at  the  time  it  was  put  up, 
'  the  statue  of  the  defender  of  the  Fugitive-slave  Law." 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  489 

revolution.  I  mention  these  things  for  the  sake  of  intro- 
ducing an  exquisite  but  unconscious  pun  made  by  the  Hon. 
Tom  Motlo}'  of  Boston.  He  was  asked  to  vote  for  Dr. 
Howe,  when  nominated  as  the  Free-Soil  candidate  for  Con- 
gress against  Mr.  Winthrop.  "  Who  is  Dr.  Howe?  "  asked 
Motley.  "  The  celebrated  pliilanthropist,"  was  the  answer. 
"  Celebrated  Phil-/<eZ^enist !  "  was  the  contemptuous  reply. 
Dr.  Howe  had  got  to  what  they  call  a  good  old  age.  He,  if 
an3-b6d3-,  could  afford  to  refrain  from  saj-ing  with  Emerson, 
in  his  "Letters  and  Social  Aims,"  "  Our  passions,  our  en- 
deavors, have  something  ridiculous  and  mocking.  If  not  to 
.be,  hoAv  like  the  bells  of  a  fool  is  the  trump  of  fame  !  "  He 
had  been  complaining  for  a  long  time  of  decaying  health. 
He  had  studied  medicine,  but  had  little  failh  in  it.  I  think 
he  very  greatly  lamented  his  decay,  and  had  felt,  though 
perhaps  not  quoted,  Scott's  lines  :  — 

"Alas!  the  warped  and  broken  board, 

How  can  it  bear  the  painter's  dye? 
The  harp  of  strained  and  tuneless  chord, 

How  to  the  minstrel's  skill  reply? 
To  aching  ej-es  each  landscape  lowers ; 

To  feverish  pulse  each  gale  blows  chill; 
And  Araby's  or  Eden's  bowers 

Were  barren  as  this  moorland  hill." 

Dr.  Howe  was  one  of  the  editors  of  ' '  The  Daily  Common- 
wealth," which  Mr.  Bird,  Mr.  Alley,  Mr.  Downer,  and 
others,  had  at  different  times  the  control  of.  Mr.  Joseph 
L3-man  and  Mr.  Charles  List  were,  at  times,  editing  this 
paper.  Probably  Howe  had  not  nuich  time  to  write  for  this 
paper,  which  was  the  mainstay  of  the  coalition  in  Boston, 
and  a  good  deal  under  the  managcmont  of  Robert  Carter. 
This  was  long  after  the  daj's  of  "  The  Boston  Daily  Repub- 
lican," which,  in  its  turn,  was  the  successor  of  "The  Daily 
Whig"  of  1848,  which  the  writer  of  this  edited.  This 
"  Daily  Connnon wealth  "  was  a  ver}-  smart  sheet  while  Howe, 
Bird,  Alley,  Downer,  and  that  set,  had  charge  of  it.  But  they 
were  all  busy  men  in  other  lines.     Dr.  Howe  always  insisted 


490  "WARBINGTON:" 

that  there  was  no  reply  to  the  argument  for  equal  suffrage 
without  regard  to  sex,  as  well  as  without  regard  to  race  or 
color:  in  fact,  on  all  questions  of  equalit}',  he  "hewed  to 
the  line,"  whether  too  bus}^  or  not  to  take  active  hold  or  not. 
He  was  a  thorough  democrat  in  the  true  sense,  as  well  as  a 
genuine  philanthropist,  a  hero,  a  gentleman,  and  an  agreea- 
ble companion.  I  suppose  he  was  well  off  in  respect  of 
propert}' ;  rich  was  he,  at  an}' rate,  after  Carl3'le's  definition: 
"  The  wealth  of  a  man  consists  in  the  number  of  things  he 
loves  and  blesses,  the  number  of  things  he  is  loved  and 
blessed  by." 

E.    ROCKWOOD    HOAR. 

The  trouble  with  Judge  Hoar  is,  that  he  has  contracted  the 
apparently  incurable  habit  of  "  putting  himself  upon  his 
dignit}'."  We  doubt  if  it  was  ever  true,  even  in  the  daj's  of 
Caleb  Strong  or  George  Cabot,  that  men  were  put  into  high 
office  who  refused  to  sa}'  whether  tlie}-  would  take  it  or  not. 
At  au}^  rate,  the  da}-  is  now  past  for  an}-  such  pretensions 
and  affectations.  No  man  can  be  governor,  except  b}*  acci- 
dent, who  does  not  sa}'  to  his  friends,  "  I  will  take  the  office, 
and  3'ou  ma}'  do  what  you  can  for  me."  And  no  man  ought 
to  be.  As  a  general  thing,  your  men  who  adopt  the  high  tone 
are  no  better  than  their  neiglibors,  and  no  less  desirous  to 
hold  office.  It  is  the  new-departure  men  in  the  Republican 
party  who  are  talking  of  Judge  Hoar ;  but  there  is  really  not 
a  more  strict  party  man  in  New  England  than  the  judge. 
And  as  for  his  attitude  towards  the  administration  Avhich  dis- 
charged him,  —  wh}',  he  has  done  nothing  but  puff  Gen.  Grant 
since  he  left  the  cabinet.  He  would  make  a  strong  governor, 
but,  in  all  probability,  a  very  temporary  one.  Judge  Hoar  did 
excellent  service  at  Washington  against  that  system  of  con- 
gressional interference,  under  which  it  l)ecomes  necessary  to 
consult  A,  B,  and  C  of  the  1st,  2d,  and  3d  Districts,  before 
the  collector  can  appoint  a  clerk,  or  the  postmaster-general 
a  postmaster.  But  he  got  tired  of  the  warfare,  or  the  con- 
gressmen were  too  strong  for  him.     The  best  statement  of 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  491 

true  doctrine  that  I  remember  from  the  bench  may  be  found 
in  a  charge  delivered  by  Judge  Hoar  to  the  grand  jury, 
where  he  brought  to  their  attention  the  proceedings  of  the 
military  power  soon  after  the  rendition  of  Burns.  Judge 
Hoar  said,  — 

"It  has  been  said  sometimes,  and  in  some  places,  that  there  are 
laws  which  it  is  the  duty  of  citizens  to  disobey  or  resist.  I  have  no 
doubt,  gentlemen,  and  I  suppose  none  of  you  have  any  doubt,  that  a 
law  may  be  enacted  by  a  republican  government,  as  well  as  an  order 
passed  by  a  despot,  which  may  be  in  itself  wicked ;  and  if  any  stat- 
ute is  passed  which  any  citizen  —  examining  his  duty  by  the  best  light 
God  has  given  him,  and  acting  conscientiously  and  upriglitly  —  be- 
lieves to  be  wicked,  and  Avhich,  acting  by  the  law  of  God,  he  thinks 
he  ought  to  disobey,  unquesilonahbj  he  owjht  to  disobey  that  statute, 
because  he  oujht  to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  I  suppose  that  any  man 
who  loould  seriously  deny  that  there  is  any  lliin^i  hiyher  than  human 
law  must  ultimately  deny  even  the  existence  of  a  Most  Ilir/h." 

GEORGE    F.    nOAR. 

George  F.  Hoar  and  his  brother  the  judge  are  very  differ- 
ent men,  though  resembling  each  other  in  some  particulars  ; 
principall}-  in  having  been  born  in  the  same  house,  and  edu- 
cated at  the  same  college.  Judge  Hoar  is  temperaraentallj'' 
opposed  to  all  demagogism  and  partisanship :  so  is  George 
F.  ;  but  the  latter  has  a  streak  of  radicalism,  for  instance,  on 
the  subject  of  woman-suffrage.  How  happens  it  that  even 
the  youngest  of  this  conservative  family'  is  so  utterlj^  lost  to 
a  sense  of  what  is  due  to  propriet}'?  The  secret  is  soon 
told.  He  was  fitted  for  college  b}-  a  woman,  Mrs.  Ripley  of 
Concord.  Chief  Justice  Chapman,  if  lie  had  had  the  train- 
ing of  him,  might  not  have  got  him  in  such  good  condition 
for  the  nniversit}- ;  but  lie  would  have  taken  better  care  of 
his  political  morals.  But  there  is  no  use,  probably*,  in  tr}-- 
ing  to  go  back. 

He  also  believes  in  labor-reform,  which  makes  him  re- 
semble, in  a  sort,  Butler  himself,  but  which  excites  a 
smile  of  contempt  in  the  judge,  or  a  shrug  of  disgust.  Then 
the  younger  has  not  yet  outgrown  the  intense  partisanship  of 
his  3-outh  and  the  combativeness  of  the  bar,  and  it  is  very 


492  "WARRINGTON:" 

likety  never  will.  It  is  not  probable  that  his  temperament, 
his  education,  or  his  family  history  and  traditions,  will  ever 
allow  him  to  really  like  Butler :  j-et  the  resembling  traits 
between  the  two  will  keep  them  on  good  terms,  as  the}^  were 
in  the  State  Convention  of  1871,  in  spite  of  the  opposite 
impressions  of  such  political  greenhorns  as  that  Har^ard- 
college  professor  who  went  to  the  New-England  dinner  in 
1872,  and  claimed  for  the  two  brothers  the  credit  of  killing 
Butler ;  while  only  the  elder,  as  we  know,  had  any  thing  to 
do  with  it,  or  any  sympathy  with  the  enterprise. 

[Feb.  2G,  1876.] 
REV.    GILBERT    HAVEN. 

I  called  to  see  Gilbert  Haven  about  the  day  the  echoes  of 
his  speech  began  to  get  back  here  at  his  home.^  "There's 
the  What's-its-name,"  said  he,  pitching  across  the  table  at 
me  the  Christian  something  which  does  duty  as  a  sentinel 
on  some  inner  wall  of  the  Methodist  Zion.  ".They  say  at  the 
office  (i.e.,  in  Bromtield  Street)  that  my  speech  is  making  a 
great  row."  I  helped  him  find  the  criticism  he  had  brought 
with  him ;  bat  it  was  some  time  before  I  could  remember 
what  he  had  said  to  occasion  such  a  tumult.  He  and  I  have 
been  "Grant  men"  for  two  or  three  years,  with  this  differ- 
ence,—  that,  while  I  have  been  rather  surer  than  he  is  that 
Grant  is  "the  strongest  Republican,"  he  has  been  a  good 
deal  surer  than  I  that  it  would  be  fit  and  decent  to  choose 
him.  This  Grant  talk  of  his  has  been  so  common  when  he 
has  been  at  home,  that  nobod}'  paid  much  attention  to  it : 
and  I  really  believe  that  he  derived  much  comfort  from  my 
opinion  that  Grant  means  to  get  the  nomination,  will  not  be 
put  off,  can  not  be  put  off;  and  that  it  is  "Grant,  or  a  Demo- 
crat." The  Methodist  ministers,  who  meet  him  on  Monday, 
think  Haven  jt  great  politician,  because  he  is  enthusiastic, 
and  gives  them  a  sort  of  a  reason  for  what  they  want  to 


1  A  political  speech,  in  wliicli  the  bishop  advocated  a  third  term  for 
Pres.  Grant. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  493 

believe.  Haven  is  "  a  Grant  man  ' '  because  the  black  man 
is  for  Grant.  He  believes  in  the  negro,  not  in  Grant ;  as 
Gov.  Andrew's  antislaverj-  character  came  out  of  bis  fond- 
ness for  exceptional!}'  unluck}'  races.  "I  never  despised 
an}'  man,"  said  Andrew,  with  that  high  pitch  on  the  word 
"  an}',"  making  it  sound  like  anny, —  "any  man  because 
be  was  poor,  or  because  he  was  ignorant,  or  because  he  was 
black." 

These  Methodist  meetings  in  Boston  generally  excite  little 
or  no  interest.  They  afford  a  chance  for  the  clergy  to  come 
in,  just  before  and  after  election,  and  excuse  themselves  for 
not  reporting  at  the  polls  for  duty  on  the  Prohibitory  Law. 
"Why,"  said  Haven,  "I  did  not  vote  for  Grant  myself  in 
' 72. "  —  "  Who  did  you  vote  for,  for  Heaven's  sake ?"—"!? 
I  voted  for  Black  and  Russell!"  —  "And  who  were  Black 
and  Russell?"  —  "Prohibition  candidates."  You  see,  he 
could  not  quite  make  up  his  mind,  as  a  temperance  man,  to  go 
for  Grant,  and  so  went  for  Black  and  Russell ;  though  I  do 
not  remember  that  those  eminent  citizens  had  even  an  elec- 
toral ticket  in  Massachusetts.  And  Grant  was  safe  enough 
here.  When  Haven  went  South  as  a  bishop,  he  l)ecame 
more  and  more,  of  course,  a  Grant  man,  and  more  and  more 
a  Methodist  organizer.  He  wants  to  protect  the  negro  from 
the  white  man,  and  he  wants  to  build  up  the  Methodist- 
Episcopal  Church  against  the  Catholics  ;  though  I  do  not 
think  he  cares  about  the  school-question  very  much,  believing 
in  the  Church  quite  as  much  as  in  the  Bible  ;  feeling,  proba- 
bly, —  as  a  man  does  who  reads  the  magazines  and  news- 
papers and  modern  books,  and  who  hears  everybody  talk, 
—  that  it  is  the  spectacular  and  emotional  which  must  make 
Christianity  a  continued  success,  rather  than  a  reliance  upon 
a  book  which  Huxley  and  Spencer  are  nibbling  the  leaves 
out  of  all  the  time.  The  negro,  and  especially  the  Methodist 
negro,  must  be  taken  care  of.  He  must  be  recognized.  I 
have  a  letter  from  him  to  Gov.  Andrew,  asking  the  governor 
to  help  elect  Rev.  Mr.  Grimes  to  a  chaplaincy  in  the  legisla- 
ture.    The  governor  indorsed  it  over  to  me  with  a  request 


494  "WARBINGTON:" 

that  I  would  help  to  get  votes  for  Mr.  Grimes.^  I  suppose 
there  is  a  time  when  it  seems  so  necessary  to  strike  a  strong 
blow  at  an  absurd  prejudice,  that  it  may  be  a  good  thing  to 
infringe  upon  what  Avould  seem  the  true  rule;  viz.,  to  vote 
for  the  man  who  can  best  interpret  to  the  Almighty  the 
devotional  feelings  of  those  who  conceive  themselves  to  be 
praying  when  the  Lord  is  addressed  in  their  names.  Doubt- 
less Mr.  Grimes,  who  Avas  an  excellent  man,  would  have 
made  as  good  a  chaplain  as  the  man  who  was  chosen,  who- 
ever he  was. 

I  trust  that  Haven  will  not  be  harmed  on  account  of  those 
speeches,  and  do  not  think  he  will  be.  He  must  be  liked 
at  the  South,  on  the  whole  :  I  know  he  must  be  b^'  those 
who  know  him ;  and  that  is  nearly  everybod}-.  He  knows 
everybody,  —  Tilton  and  Beecher  equally  well.  He  is  as 
strict  a  marriage  man  as  Greeley  was,  but  implicitly  believes, 
that,  if  the  white  man  and  black  woman  desire  to  intermany, 
the  State  should  not  interfere.  Mr.  NordhofF  (of  "The 
Nation")  is  altogether  wrong  when  he  says  that  Haven's 
"most  cherished  possessions  are  prejudices."     Tlie  bishop's 

1  Boston,  Jan.  2, 18G4. 
Dear  Sir,  —Many  friends  of  Kev.  ISIr.  Grimes  are  anxious  tliat  he 
should  be  appointed  the  chaplain  of  the  House  of  Representatives  the 
coming  session.  Judge  Russell  and  other  eminent  friends  of  the  cause 
are  interested  in  the  matter.  It  is  not  only  a  right  step  in  the  right 
direction,  but  it  gives  honor  and  aid  to  a  most  worthy  and  faithful 
friend  of  the  war  and  the  Union ;  and,  far  from  least,  will  greatly  aid  the 
business  of  volunteering  among  our  colored  friends.  I  trust  that  you 
can  find  it  consistent  with  your  official  relations  to  that  body  to  assist 
in  securing  his  election,  as  I  am  assured  it  will  be  agreeable  to  your 
feelings  and  yovir  judgment  to  have  it  successful. 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

G.  Ha\ten. 
Gov.  Andrew.  * 

Commonwealth  of  INIassachusetts,  Executive  Department, 

Boston,  Jan.  5,  18G4. 

My  dear  Robinson,  —  I  should  think  JNIr.  Grimes  miglit  be  elected 

senate  cliaplain  with  ease.    Only  few  persons  need  to  be  spoken  to.    It 

ought  to  be  done,  1  think.    "Who  can  best  start  the  movement? 

Yours  truly, 

J.  A.  Andrew. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  495 

prejudices  are  very  slight  and  very  few,  — fewer  and  slighter 
than  the}'  ought  to  be  ;  for  I  suppose  a  prejudice,  easily 
overcome  when  real  judgment  approaches,  and  proves  the 
stronger,  is  a  valuable  qualit}'.  1  got  information  or  surmise 
as  to  the  Brooklyn  scandal  from  him  long  before  Mrs.  "Wood- 
hull  made  her  invincible  statement ;  and  now  it  is  no  wonder 
that  he  tells  Mr.  Blackwell,  that,  if  Mr.  Beecher  makes  his 
appearance  as  a  "suffragist"  on  the  platform,  he  (Haven) 
steps  off.  The  bishop's  head  is  level  on  one  of  the  "miscege- 
nation "  questions,  however  it  maybe  on  the  others.  The 
bishop  cannot  stand  every  thing ;  and  he  knows  that  even 
now  the  joints  of*  the  Church  Universal  are  beginning  to 
crack  under  the  load  Plymouth  Church  insists  it  shall  take 
on  board.  He  would  prefer  to  have  Grant  a  teetotaler,  or  a 
prohibitionist,  which  is  better  j-et  in  the  estimation  of  all 
sound  temperance  men  ;  but  ■  the  negro  must  be  protected, 
especiall}-  the  church-going,  i&Iethodist  negro.  Not  that 
Haven  is,  when  30U  get  close  to  him,  a  strict  doctriaare; 
for  he  mixes  very  judiciousl}-  worldliness  with  other  worldli- 
ness. 

He  relishes  Emerson;  says  "Brahma"  is  one  of  the 
greatest  of  poems,  and  that  the  first  volume  of  Essays, 
and  the  first  volume  of  Poems,  are  the  finest  fruits  of  Ameri- 
can genius  ;  and  calls  to  see  the  Concord  seer  when  he  is  in 
the  neighborhood.  When  ver}'  pious,  or  very  drows}-,  or  ver}' 
repentant,  he  might  take  up  Poliok  or  Young  or  Bioker- 
statr,  but  not  till  then.  Ordinaril}-,  he  would  read  Green's 
"  His  tor)'  of  the  People  of  England,"  or  "The  Vicar  of 
Wakcfiekl,"  or  "Eolhen,"  or  Elia,  or  Hawthorne,  before 
any  such  "poetry"  as  the  other.  No  man  within  the  last 
twelve  or  fifteen  j'cars,  I  tliink,  has  grown  in  ability  and 
power  more  than  Gilbert  Haven  ;  and,  if  he  has  good  for- 
tune, he  will  live  and  grow  many,  many  years.  His  mother 
is  now  living  in  this  town  (Maiden),  at  the  age  of  eiglity- 
cight.  His  father  (Gilbert)  was  a  leading  Methodist  of  this 
section  till  his  death  ;  and  he  was  a  brother  of  Franklin 
Haven,  financial   friend    of  Webster,    to   whom    the   latter 


496  ''WARRINGTON  r' 

intrusted  that  great  politico-economical  maxim,  that  "no 
man  could  hold  a  cabinet-office  in  Washington,  unless  he 
were  rich,  or  a  bachelor :  "  whereupon  the  pockets  of  State 
Street  were  opened  to  Mr.  Webster.  The  bishop  is  a 
widower  with  two  children ;  his  wife  having  been  dead 
eighteen  j-ears,  more  or  less.  He  writes  rapidly  and  care- 
lessl}',  and  incurs  the  hostility  of  the  critics  for  occasional 
clumsiness  and  inaccurac}',  but  is  too  "  spry  "  for  forms.  A 
royal  good  fellow.     Ma}-  he  live  long,  and  prosper ! 

[March  8,  1876.] 
CHARLES    C.    HAZE  WELL    AND    THE    OLD    EDITORS.^ 

Charles  C.  Hazewell's  "  Review  of  the  Year,"  in  "The 
Traveller,"  is  an  astonishing  piece  of  work.  The  bits  of  au- 
tobiograph}^  which  he  puts  into  his  reviews  are,  to  me,  their 
most  interesting  features.  He  is  almost  as  frank  as  Rous- 
seau, but  has  no  such  unhandsome  confessions  to  make.  For 
a  man  who  relies  almost  entireh^  on  the  newspapers  for  the 
news,  he  is  well  informed  as  to  what  is  going  on  in  Boston  ; 
while  as  to  the  past,  and  as  to  all  which  books  tell,  he  has 
no  equal  hereabouts.  I  wish  he  would  make  an  estimate  of 
the  number  of  columns  he  has  written,  —  more,  I  suspect, 
than  any  other  American  editor.  Mr.  Hazewell  is  a  Provi- 
dence man,  and  came  to  Boston  as  a  compositor,  and  worked 
on  Hallet's  old  "  Daily  Advocate."  He  afterwards  edited 
"The  Nantucket  Islander"  (or  "I  Slander,"  as  Sara  H. 
Jenks,  publisher  of  the  rival  "Inquirer,"  used  to  call  it), 
and  then  "  The  Concord  Freeman,"  and  then  "  The  Boston 
Times,"  for  many  years.  In  1846  he  went  to  Ohio,  and 
edited  "The  Ohio  Statesman."  While  there,  he  and  his 
brother  published  one  number  of  "The  Western  Review," 
containing  nine  long  articles  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  ever}'' 
one  of  which  was  written  by  himself. 

Isaac   W.   Frye,  who  died  in  Boston  not  long  ago,  was 

1  This  sketch  contains  the  last  of  "Warrington's"  writings.  A  part 
of  it  was  published  after  his  death. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  497 

about  the  oldest  man  connected  with  the  press  actively  in  the 
State.  There  are  left  Col.  Greene,  Mr.  Hazewell,  Mr.  Att- 
will,  Mr.  Purdy  of  the  land  commission,  and  perhaps  others, 
and  some  older  than  cither  of  these.  The  religious  papers, 
possibly,  have  some;  for  example,  Mr.  Punchard  of  "The 
Traveller."  George  Bradburn,  an  old  journalist  (and  one 
of  the  sharpest),  was  in  the  legislature  with  "\Yinthrop, 
Samuel  C.  Allen,  Rantoul,  Frank  Dexter,  and  that  set,  and 
took  a  leading  part  in  repealing  the  anti-amalgamation  law. 
He  was  thus  obliged  to  come  into  contact  with  Franklin 
Dexter,  a  leader  of  the  Boston  Whigs,  a  handsome  though 
dark  man,  who  suffered  a  good  deal  from  "colliding"  with 
Bradburn.  Possibly  I  ought  to  have  mentioned  Gen.  Banks 
as  once  an  editor ;  but  I  guess  not.  He  once  had  a  small 
paper  in  Woburn.  Gov.  Bullock  once  edited  "  The  -^gis." 
C.  W.  Palfrey  of  "  The  Salem  Register  "  is  one  of  the  oldest 
and  steadiest.  And  we  had  in  the  office  of  "  The  Lowell 
Courier"  a  file  of  David  Lee  Child's  "Massachusetts 
Journal"  of  about  1822.  Mr.  Child  died  lately;  but  Mrs. 
Child  still  writes  for  the  press.  It  would  have  been  inexcu- 
sable to  omit  Mr.  Foote  of  "  The  Salem  Gazette  ;  "  but  his 
youthful  looks  and  courtl}^  way  rather  exclude  the  idea  that 
he  is  one  of  the  old  editors.  Dr.  Palfrey  is  about  eighty ; 
but,  whether  he  had  installation  as  editor  when  young,  I  do 
not  know.  I  am  glad  there  are  so  man}-  of  the  old  fellows 
left.  Dr.  Loring  was  once  a  reporter  for  "  The  Daily 
Advertiser"  at  the  legislature.  And,  lo !  here  is  refer- 
ence made  to  Capt.  Sleeper  of  "  The  Boston  Journal." 
Stockwell  and  Clapp  of  the  same  paper,  and  Delano  God- 
dard  of  "  The  Advertiser,"  are  coming  along  fast.  Dr. 
Howe  jointly  edited  the  (old)  "  Dailv  Commonwealth  "  over 
twenty  j-ears  ago ;  and  it  is  twenty-five  years  since  Elizur 
Wright,  styled  by  Charles  A.  Dana  "the  best  paragraph- 
ist,"  started  "The  Chronotype,"  which  Dana  worked  on. 
Elizur  is  a  successful  man  of  business,  and  the  same  hard- 
headed,  and  perfectly  honest,  non-mystical  old  radical  as 
ever. 


498  "  WARRING  TON: " 

One  might  write  all  day  about  newspaper-men  ;  for  it  is  a 
universal  rule  for  public  men  to  write  for  the  press.  The 
"Brutuses,"  and  the  "  Phocions,"  and  the  "  Honestuses," 
of  old  times,  no  doubt  used  to  crack  their  jokes,  air  their 
rhetoric,  and  instruct  the  people.  Charles  Austin,  a  son  of 
"  Honestus  "  (Benjamin  Austin's  newspaper  name,  I  believe), 
got  shot  by  Selfridge.  How  could  I  forget  Mr.  Garrison,  and 
Mr.  Wheildon  of  the  old  '•  Bunker-hill  Aurora,"  still  bus}', 
and  living  in  Concord?  Among  the  old  editors,  I  forgot  Wil- 
liam Ilayden  and  Thomas  M.  Brewer  of  "  The  Atlas."  Mr. 
Hayden  lives  in  Maiden,  and  is  over  eighty  j-ears  old.  He 
was  a  reporter  in  "Washington  for  "The  Intelligencer"  as 
long  ago  as  1822  ;  returned  to  Boston  ;  and  in  1841,  he,  with 
Dr.  Brewer,  took  "The  Atlas."  I  believe  he  is  in  good 
health.  He  is  a  Lincoln^  man.  Another  Lincoln  man, 
George  F.  Bemis,  left  journalism  thirty  j-ears  ago  or  so,  has 
got  rich  since,  and  is  now  well,  and  enjoying  life.  Dr. 
Brewer  was,  as  we  all  remember,  a  Washington  letter-writer. 
I  don't  suppose  any  paper  ever  teas  quite  so  enthusiastically 
received  as  "The  Atlas  "  by  the  partisan  of  the  old  school, 
who  was  a  A'er}'  good  and  useful  man  before  the  da3's  of  "per- 
sonal government ' '  and  of  caucus-packing.  Houghton  was 
considered  a  wonder  ;  and  there  were  dim  hints  about  Richard 
Hildreth,  a  writer  for  the  press,  who  was  indeed  a  most 
remarkable  turner-off  of  work, — writing  a  little  finical 
hand,  but  any  quantity  of  it,  and  with  great  rapidity,  —  at 
least  when  I  knew  him,  in  1854.  "  Ornament  his  sword 
had  none,  but  the  notches  on  the  blade."  Alfred  Turner 
also  turned  off  work  well  on  "  The  Atlas." 

ABRAHAM   LINCOLN. 

I  suppose  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  the  story 
of  Lincoln's  early  history.  It  is  stranger  than  fiction.  I 
hardly  know  any  narrative  better  told,  or  more  curious  in 
itself,  considering  the  after-life  of  the  subject.     There  is  a 

1  Bom  in  Lincoln,  Mass. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  499 

little  too  much  Ilerndon,  perhaps  ;  but,  after  all.  we  are  inter- 
ested a  little  in  knowing  a  man  who  knew  Lincoln  so  well,  and 
who  thinks  he  guided  Lincoln  to  his  great  destiu}- ;  though  it 
seems  probable,  that,  after  a  while,  Lincoln  might  have  hu- 
mored his  vanity  a  little,  rather  than  followed  his  leading. 
Although  (as  C.  C.  Ilazewell  once  said)  Wilkes  Booth's 
bullet  has  made  it  forever  impossible  to  tell  the  whole  truth 
about  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  is  clear  enough  that  he  was  one  of  the 
ablest  and  shrewdest  men  who  ever  held  the  presidency. 
Once  get  an  idea  into  his  head,  and  it  stuck  there  forever. 
He  was  a  Jeffersonian,  as  all  successful  Americans  must  be. 
Abraliam  Lincoln  was  a  good  talker,  but  not  a  mere  talk- 
er ;  a  good  laAA ycr,  but  not  a  mere  lawyer ;  a  man  who  had 
a  great  respect  for  law  and  forms,  but  not  an  idolatr}^  for 
them.  He  was  not  a  formalist.  When  the  country  was  in 
danger,  he  could  cut  the  knot  of  red  tape  as  easily  and  as 
willingl}'  as  any  other  man.  I  doubt  whether  there  ever  ex- 
isted a  man  of  note  in  the  country  who  had  less  the  character 
of  a  saint  or  an  inspired  person  than  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Every  tiling  about  him  was  intensely  human.  He  was  neither 
poet  nor  prophet,  but  simply  a  man  of  common  sense,  and 
by  no  means  above  the  trickeries  and  expediencies  which  are 
supposed  to  be  cliaracteristics  of  the  class  of  "  politicians." 
And  what  is  the  use  of  trying  to  make  him  out  a  man  of 
supernatural  merit?  We  are  not  likely,  in  these  times  of 
"reconstruction,"  to  forget  that  our  loss  in  Lincoln's  death 
is  an  irreparable  one ;  and  (here  is  no  need  of  making  liim 
out  a  god,  or  an  unexampled  instance  of  heroic  virtue  and 
piety. 

[In  18G8.] 
GEORGE   B.    LORING. 

George  B.  Loring  is  the  son  of  a  Unitarian  clergj-raan  in 
Andover  (now  deceased) ,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  medically 
educated,  of  earlj'  antislavery  predilections ;  at  one  time 
physician,  superintendent,  steward,  or  what-not,  of  Chelsea 
Marine  Hospital ;   good-looking ;    an   excellent  speaker  for 


500  "WARRINGTON:" 

Ij'ceums  and  miscellaneous  gatherings,  though  not  strong  in 
debate ;  the  owner  of  a  farm  of  five  hundred  acres  close  to 
the  cit}'  of  Salem ;  admitted  to  be  an  excellent  agricul- 
turist, theoretically  and  practically ;  very  well  known  b}' 
sight  and  hearing  to  the  people,  especially  of  the  country 
towns  ;  and  of  very  popular  and  agreeable  manners.  He 
was  at  first  an  antislavery  man.  How  it  happened  that  he 
became,  for  the  dozen  3'ears  or  so  before  1863,  one  of  the 
most  violent  of  the  Southern  sort  of  Democrats,  I  have 
never  been  able  to  make  out ;  but  so  it  was. 

The  real  objection  to  the  doctor  seems  to  be  that  he  has 
brought  into  the  Republican  part}'  the  peculiar  tactics  of  the 
Democratic  party.  I  by  no  means  intend  to  afl3rm  that  there 
are  not  plent}-  of  Republicans,  who  never  were  Democrats, 
who  have  the  same  general  idea  as  to  what  is  a  proper  mode 
of  conducting  a  political  canvass  as  the  old  Democratic 
leaders ;  but,  to  a  very  large  proportion  of  Republicans, 
this  style  of  doing  business  is  not  quite  the  thing.  The  old- 
fashioned,  high-toned.  Federal  "Whig  gentleman  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  as  trick}'  as  anybod}^  else,  if  occasion  required  : 
but  the  competition  for  places  was  not,  in  his  da}',  very 
great ;  and  he  was  seldom  detected,  and  seldomer  exposed. 
That  "  cycle  of  Cathay,"  the  seven-years'  administration  of 
Gov.  Briggs,  if  not  as  full  of  intricacies  as  the  "  coalition  " 
which  followed  it,  owes  its  better  character,  in  this  respect, 
mainly  to  the  absence  of  temptation,  to  the  overwhelming 
majorities  of  the  Whig  party,  and  to  the  sense  of  pride,  if 
not  of  honor,  which  compelled  the  leaders  to  keep  silence  as 
to  the  secret  doings  of  themselves  and  their  party. 

There  is  a  superstition  among  old  Whigs,  that  the  bargain 
which  made  Mr.  Boutwell  governor,  and  Mr.  Sumner  senator, 
and  placed  Gen.  Wilson  and  Gen,  Banks  in  the  chair  of  the 
State  Senate  and  House,  brought  death  into  our  political 
world,  and  all  our  woe  ;  and  Judge  B.  R.  Curtis  declared 
that  bargain  to  be  an  indictable  oflTence  at  common  law. 
But  there  is  no  good  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  any  more 
corrupt  than  the  bargains  which  were  made  inside  of  the 


PEN-PORTIiAITS.  501 

Whig  party  previous  to  1848,  especiall}'  by  the  cotton  manu- 
facturers, headed  by  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  who  did  much  to 
demoralize  the  politics  of  the  State.  But  the  Republicans 
here  flatter  themselves  that  the^'  have  the  advantage  in 
respectability-  over  the  old  Whigs,  and  the  coalitionists,  and 
the  Know-Nothings ;  and  that  the  administrations  of  Gov, 
Andrew  and  Gov.  Bullock  have  been  cleaner  than  an\^  others 
of  recent  times.  Be  this  as  it  ma}-,  —  and  possibly  self-right- 
eousness alone  would  claim  it,  —  there  is  an  impression  that 
some  of  the  Democratic  converts,  like  Dr.  Loring  and  Gen. 
Butler,  being  exceedingly  ambitious  men,  are  not  quite  scru- 
pulous enough  as  to  means,  when  they  have  a  purpose  to 
accomplish.  I  shall  not  finish  what  ought  to  be  said  about 
Dr.  Loring,  without  mentioning,  that,  while  in  the  legislature, 
he  took  ground  in  favor  of  the  Prohibitor}-  Law,  stack  to  it 
at  great  risk  daring  the  excitement  of  1867  (when  most  men 
of  ordinarj-  sagacity  saw  that  the  law  was  "booked"  for 
defeat) ,  and  shared  its  fate,  at  least  temporarily  ;  being  de- 
feated by  Gen.  Sutton,  a  license-law  Republican,  in  the 
canvass  for  the  State  Senate. 

HORACE    MANN. 

Horace  Mann  was  an  unlucl<3'  man  ;  and  his  Life  ^  is  a 
record  of  his  struggles  with  ill-health,  bigotry,  and  hunker- 
ism.  How  he  hated  "the  Orthodox"  from  the  day  Dr. 
Emmons  preached  that  sermon  at  the  funeral  of  his  brother, 
all  through  his  contests  Avith  "  that  poor  thing"  Matthew 
Hale  Smith  and  "The  Boston  Recorder,"  and  the  jealous 
and  vindictive  men  who  were  afraid  he  was  malcing  the 
common  school  of  Massachusetts  an  engine  of  infidelit}- ! 
Mann's  letters  to  Samuel  Downer,  George  Combe,  and  others, 
and  the  extracts  from  his  journal,  are  full  of  interest ;  but 
they  give  a  faint  idea  of  the  smashing  power  with  Avhich  he 
fought  the  schoolmasters  and  the  bigots.  How  he  scourged 
Barnum  Field  and  his  bretln-en  !     Matthew  Hale  Smith  was 

1  Written  by  Mrs.  Mann. 


502  "WARRINGTON:" 

SO  chary  of  truth,  he  said,  that  he  -would  not  use  it  "  even 
as  a  condiment."  Here  is  a  judgment  that  will  never  wax 
nor  wane. 

The  fight  with  Webster  w^as  terrible  as  long  as  it  lasted ; 
and  Mann  never  gave  it  up  till  his  great  enemj^  was  laid 
entirely  low.  The  reading  of  the  controversy'  now  onty 
keeps  alive  the  vividness  of  Webster's  great  treachery  to  the 
cause  of  progress  ;  and  the  silence  that  broods  over  the  7th- 
of-March  speech  is  more  expressive  than  open  words  of  con- 
demnation. Mr.  Mann  seems  to  have  been  a  very  sincere 
admirer  of  Mr.  AVebster  up  to  that  day  of  "  apostasy."  It 
is  customary  to  say  that  the  judgment  of  posterity  is  the 
safest  upon  public  men  and  manners.  Perhaps  so  ;  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  the  man  of  1850  or  1855  should  sit 
down  and  cogitate  as  to  what  some  historian  of  18G0  or  1875 
will  say  about  his  part  in  the  controversy.  The  pardou- 
mongers  are  fond  of  quoting  Macaulay  and  Hallam  as  to  the 
impolic}^  of  executing  Charles  I.  But  I  suspect  Cromwell  and 
Compau}^  knew  what  they  were  about :  so  did  Mr.  Mann 
when  he  executed  judgment  upon  Daniel  Webster. 

The  reading  of  this  Life  lets  one  into  the  secret  of  some 
weaknesses  of  Mr.  Mann's,  but  ver}-  much  deepens  the  im- 
pression left  by  his  great  qualities  and  his  noble  and  useful 
career.  As  a  controversialist  and  rhetorician,  few  men  ever 
lived  in  this  State  who  were  his  equal.  He  had  a  contro- 
versy on  the  subject  of  voting  with  Wendell  Phillips,  which 
was  on  both  sides  wonderfully  readable.  Mr.  Mann  having 
the  right  of  the  question,  and  being  quite  as  caustic  as  Mr. 
Phillips,  got  the  better  of  his  antagonist,  as  he  did  of  ever}-- 
body  else  he  ever  encountered.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  have 
these  biographies  of  our  great  men  ;  and  those  who  are  now 
living  ought  to  write  letters  and  journals,  and  do  what  thej- 
can,  as  Horace  Mann  did,  for  the  entertainment  and  instruc- 
tion of  posterity. 

WENDELL    PHILLIPS. 

In  Phillips  you  have  naturalness  and  most  perfect  grace. 
He  makes  a  most  beautiful  speech,  strictly  argumentative, 


PEN-PORTEAITS.  503 

but  with  the  keenest  and  finest  iUustration  of  his  various 
points.  His  rivulet-lilce  efforts  charm  rather  than  thrill  5-ou. 
He  certainlj^  is  our  easiest,  most  persuasive,  most  eloquent, 
and,  on  the  whole,  our  best  "  platform"  speaker. 

We  all  know  that  he  does  not  believe  the  work  of  the  anti- 
slaver}'  part}'  accomplished,  but  that  the  exigency'  is  almost 
as  great  as  ever.  Every  year  he  makes  temperance  speeches 
at  the  State  House  and  elsewhere,  telling  the  people  that 
they  must  organize  on  that  issue  ;  and  now  here  he  is  telling 
the  working-men  that  the}-  must  get  fort}'  thousand  votes.  It 
is  very  fortunate  for  him  that  he  has  a  constitutional  crotchet 
which  keeps  him  from  voting  ;  though  what  he  will  do  when 
that  is  gone  I  cannot  imagine.  Mr.  Phillips,  though  not  a 
voter,  is  essentially  a  politician.  His  tastes  are  in  the  direc- 
tion of  politics.  He  likes  to  consult  and  advise  with  poli- 
ticians ;  and,  if  not  hampered  by  constitutional  opinions,  he 
would  be  at  the  head  of  the  radical  politicians  of  the  State, 
wise,  cautious,  craft}'  even,  in  counsel,  in  caucus,  and  in 
convention. 

What  if  he  were  in  the  same  ward  with  Major  Mahan, 
with  whom  he  spoke  on  the  platform?  The  major  would 
claim  his  vote  for  representative,  saying,  "Look  here,  Mr. 
Phillips :  I  want  your  help.  Come  down  to  the  ward-room 
and  speak  forme."  —  "But,"  says  Mr.  Phillips,  "you  are 
against  negro-suffrage."  —  "I  know  I  am,"  says  the  major: 
"  but  I  am  for  eight  hours  a  day  ;  and,  under  }our  advice,  we 
have  organized  a  party."  —  "Ah  !  but,"  replies  Mr.  Phillips, 
"3'ou  are  counsel  for  the  rumsellers."  —  "I  know  I  am," 
says  the  major  ;  "  but  what  of  that?  Under  your  deliberate 
advice,  we  made  the  labor-question  an  issue  :  now  come  and 
help  me  put  it  through."  The  result  of  it  all  would  b;.-,  that 
the  major  would  have  the  go-by.  So  would  any  temperance 
man  who  sliould  be  for  eight  hours,  but  against  negro-suf- 
frage ;  for  ]\Ir.  Phillips,  no  matter  how  many  reformatory 
machines  he  undertakes  to  run,  makes  the  negro  paramount, 
as  he  ought.  He  has  a  taste  for  politics,  but  no  conception 
of  tlie  machinery  and  methods  of  carrying  on  parties.     He 


504  ''WARRINGTON: " 

ought  to  stay  out,  or  go  in,  —  one  or  the  other.  If  he  were  in 
a  party,  he  would  have  to  j-ield  some  of  his  views,  and  act 
with  the  majority,  or  quit.  As  he  is  outside,  he  ought  to 
confine  himself  to  the  business  of  propagating  doctrines, 
without  giving  advice  which  it  is  impossible  for  men  in  a 
party  to  obey. 

Mr.  L^'man  complains,  and  perhaps  justl}',  of  Mr.  Phillips's 
melodramatic  way  of  describing  his  father,  the  ma3-or,  in 
the  da^-s  of  the  Garrison  riot ;  ^  and  I  thought  there  was  the 
same  fault  in  one  of  his  references  to  Gov.  Andrew.  After 
all,  why  does  Mr.  Phillips  take  the  Garrison  riot,  or  the  mob 
of  December,  1860,  as  the  groundwork  of  his  argument? 
Because,  in  the  old  proslavery  days,  Mr.  Garrison  and  Mr. 
Thompson  were  mobbed,  and  Mr.  Lovejoy  was  killed,  and 
because,  after  the  election  of  Lincoln,  the  well-intentioned  but 
stupid  merchants  of  Boston  thought  war  could  be  averted  by 
a  peace  conference  and  a  repeal  of  the  Personal-liberty  Bill, 
and  therefore  it  was  bad  policy  to  hold  an  antislavery  meet- 
ing in  the  Tremont  Temple,  and  proceeded  to  egg  on  the 
mob  and  the  ma3or  to  break  it  up,  it  does  not  quite  follow 
that  our  republican  institutions  and  the  cause  of  self-gov- 
ernment are  in  any  great  danger,  or  were  in  danger  then. 

We  have  had  some  antislavery  mobs.  Elizur  Wright,  and 
Charles  G.  Davis,  and  Lewis  Hayden,  and  Martin  Stowell, 
and  T.  W.  Higginson,  could  tell  stories  about  them  ;  and  so 
could  Mr.  Phillips  himself,  who  spoke  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  the 
night  when  one  of  them  occurred.  Those  were  good  mobs, 
and  the  others  were  bad  ones,  to  be  sure ;  but  cannot  we 
take  a  bad  one  once  in  a  while,  without  giving  up  in  despair? 
A  drunken  ballot !  —  to  be  sure,  a  drunken  ballot  is  bad  ;  to 
be  sure,  3-ou  cannot  found  government  on  whiskey :  but  the 
vast  majority  of  ballots  are  sober,  and  they  are  growing 
soberer  every  year.  There  is  really  no  cause  for  alarm. 
Even  that  great  national  spittoon,  the  city  of  New  York, 
will  be  cleaned  out  before  many  years,  —  soon  as  it  is  nasty 


1  In  one  of  Mr.  Phillips's  speeches. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  505 

enough.  Mr.  Phillips  spoke  of  the  labor-question  and  the 
woman-question  effectively ;  and  his  speech,  like  all  his 
speeches,  had  a  high  moral  afflatus,  which  made  it  very 
agreeable  to  the  ethical  sense. 

[Boston  Daily  Kepublican,  November,  1848.] 
STEPHEN    C.    PHILLIPS.^ 

Stephen  C.  Phillips  was  a  native  of  Salem,  and  graduated 
with  honor  at  Harvard  College  in  1819.  After  reading  law 
for  a  short  period,  he  entered  into  mercantile  pursuits.  In 
the  year  1824  he  was  elected  a  representative  to  the  legisla- 
ture, being  then  but  twentj'-one  years  of  age.  He  continued 
a  member  of  the  legislatui-e,  in  one  or  the  other  branch,  till 
1833,  distinguishing  himself  by  his  fidelity,  eloquence,  and 
ability.  In  1834  he  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned 
b}'  the  resignation  of  Hon.  llufus  Choate  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  where  he  served  his  constituents  and  the 
country  with  distinguished  honor  till  his  own  resignation  in 
1838.  Mr.  Phillips  was  for  years  a  thorough,  persevering, 
uncom[)romising  antislavery  man ;  none  more  so  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Whig  part}-. 

In  Congress  he  went  all  lengths  with  his  associate  and 
personal  friend,  John  Quincy  Adams.  He  was  always  with 
the  small  minorit}^  who  were  ready  to  take  the  extremest 
ground  within  the  Constitution  on  that  subject.  lie  was 
foremost  in  every  movement  to  bring  the  Whig  part}'  on  to 
antislavery  ground.  In  all  the  efforts  made  to  prevent  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  —  when  George  N.  Briggs.  and  Abbott 
Lawrence,  and  Nathan  Appleton,  were  silent,  or,  if  the}'  spoke 
at  all,  did  so  onl}-  to  dissuade  from  exertion, — he  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  good  men  and  true  who  fought 
it  to  the  last ;  resolved,  that  tliough  others  might  be  wanting 
to  the  groat  cause  of  human  freedom  on  this  continent, 
through  timidity  or  short-sighted  expediency,  he  would  do 
his  whole  dut}',  come  what  might.     He  never  paused  to  ask 

1  Free-Soil  candidate  for  governor  in  1848. 


506  "  WARRmGTON: " 

how  the  movement  might  effect  his  personal  popularity,  or 
his  relations  with  the  eminent  men  of  the  country,  but  went 
straight  forward,  animated  b}-  the  principles  of  liberty,  phi- 
lanthropy, and  religion,  to  do  the  work  which  these  demanded. 
He  ever  stood  the  determined  and  uncompromising  foe  of  the 
slave-power,  the  whole-souled  friend  and  ally  of  the  free 
laborers,  vindicating  human  rights  against  all  who  would 
encroach  upon  them,  and  resting  his  fearless  advocacy  or 
"  PROTECTION  TO  MAN  "  ou  the  basis  of  his  faith,  —  that  all 
men  alike  are  children  of  God,  and  therefore  brethren  of  one 
another. 

Such  was  the  man  whom  the  Free-Soil  party  of  Massachu- 
setts, in  1848,  put  in  nomination  for  the  chief  magistrate. 

THEODORE    PARKER. 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  man  in  the  countrj',  whether  politi- 
cian, or  clerg3-man,  or  man  of  letters,  has  exercised  so  large, 
and  on  the  whole  so  good,  an  influence  as  Theodore  Parker 
for  the  last  twenty  j'ears.  Such  a  man's  work  could  not  be 
said  to  be  finished  while  he  lived  and  spoke  and  wrote  ;  but  he 
was  of  comparatively  less  importance  during  the  latter  3'cars 
of  his  life  than  he  was  from  1840  to  1850,  To  him,  more  tlian 
to  any  other  man,  —  I  had  almost  said,  more  than  to  all  other 
men,  —  are  we  indebted  for  the  privilege  we  have  of  thinking 
and  speaking  prett}-  much  what  we  please  to  thinlc  and  speak. 
The  popes.  Unitarian  as  well  as  Orthodox,  tried  to  put  him 
down  ;  but  they  had  to  deal  with  a  man  who  did  not  come 
into  the  world  to  be  put  down  eitlier  b}'  sneers,  or  neglect, 
or  open  opposition.  He  triumphed  over  all  these  obstacles  ; 
and,  when  the  little  fellows  who  get  up  courses  of  lectures 
every  winter  in  Boston  studiously  declined  to  invite  him,  he 
showed  them  that  the  managers  of  country  Ij'ceums  were 
more  courageous  than  thej' ;  and  even  the  bluest  conserva- 
tives and  conformists  had  to  invite  him  to  speak,  because  the 
people  wanted  to  hear  him,  and  would  hear  him.  Finally 
he  determined  to  lecture  in  Boston,  and  did  so,  working  him- 
self to  death  for  the  purpose  of  surmounting  all  obstacles  to 
the  free  communication  of  his  thoughts. 


« 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  bOl 

As  an  example  of  indomitable  courage  and  energ}',  his 
life  is  a  great  legac}'  to  tlie  people.  He  was  not  a  poet,  a 
man  of  genius,  like  Mr.  Emerson,  but  a  man  of  the  clearest 
and  most  piercing  insight ;  of  great  strength  of  understand- 
ing ;  boldness,  with  a  spirit  for  contradiction,  controversj", 
and  criticism,  which  was  invaluable  to  him  in  the  circum- 
stances in  which  ho  was  placed ;  a  fine  love  of  nature,  which 
softened  and  beautified  his  st3-le  and  his  manners  ;  great 
faith  in  humanitj'  and  its  destinies  ;  a  love  of  order  and 
method,  which  wonderfully  aided  that  indomitable  working- 
power  which  he  possessed  bej-ond  most  men.  lie  had,  in 
fine,  the  ver}'-  best  qualities  of  an  iconoclast,  which  was  his 
vocation.  How  he  tore  down  the  Boston  temples  !  —  rever- 
ence for  Webster,  respect  for  the  Curtises,  habit  of  implicit 
reliance  on  the  advice  of  the  Appletons  and  other  denizens 
of  Beacon  Hill.  How  he  confronted  B.  R.  Curtis  from  the 
gallery  of  Faneuil  Hall,  when  that  eminent  law3'er  undertook 
to  misrepresent  him  !  How  he  scourged  the  commissioners, 
Loring,  and  Curtis  the  less,  likening  them  to  the  masters  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  other  renowned  scoundrels  of  the  olden 
time  !  How  persistentl}'  he  followed  up  Orville  Dewey,  and 
Dr.  Adams,  and  the  Unitarian  popes  !  Much  of  this  was 
unkind,  of  course  ;  he  proljably  acknowledged  it  to  be  so 
afterwards  :  but  it  was  necessary  and  indispensable  work. 

Boston  has  been  emancipated  from  its  idol-worship  ;  and 
the  idols  are  l^ing  round  loose,  with  broken  noses,  bunged 
eyes,  and  general  shabbiness  and  seediness  of  appearance. 
The  great  men  of  Boston  find  nobod}'  to  look  up  to  them, 
and  plent}'  of  leisure  for  introspection  and  self- worship.  All 
this  is  Parker's  work  more  than  any  other  man's.  He  had 
an  audience  when  and  where  Wendell  Phillips  could  not  get 
one.  Even  among  the  slaveholders,  whose  S3'stem  he.  so 
fiercely  denounced,  he  had  sympathizers,  because  he  was 
under  the  theological  ban,  and  was  styled  an  infidel:  for 
nonconformit}'  is  not  bounded  b}'  Mason's  and  Dixon's  Line, 
or  an}'  other  line  ;  and  every  countr}-  village  in  ever}'  State 
lias  alwa3's  had  its  men  and  women  who  have  quietly  pro- 


508  "  WARRINGTON: " 

tested  against  creeds  and  catechisms,  and  who  rejoiced  when 
a  man  came  forward  boldly,  and,  as  Lowell  profanely  says,  — 

"  Cared  not  a  d — n  for  their  damning." 

In  making  an  estimate  of  Mr.  Parker's  character  and  use- 
fulness, it  is  not  necessary  to  contend  that  his  views  were 
correct,  or  to  take  that  matter  into  consideration  at  all. 
Ever}'  man  who  protests,  as  Parker  did,  is  a  legitimate  fol- 
lower of  Luther,  no  matter  what  his  views  are  ;  and  the  man 
who  boldly  confronts  popular  infidelity  (when  infidelit}'  gets 
to  be  popular) ,  or  any  superstition  or  fanaticism  or  folly,  — 
whether  it  be  the  extreme  of  orthodox}'  or  the  extreme  of 
rationalism,  the  nonsense  of  antislaverj'  or  the  nonsense  of 
slaver}'-,  —  does  noble  service  to  the  race. 

Mr.  Parker  was  not  a  tolerant  man,  of  course.  He  recog- 
nized every  man's  right  to  his  own  opinions,  and  the  right 
of  every  other  man  to  criticise  and  oppose  them.  Tolera- 
tion, as  commonly  understood,  is  simply  indifference  and 
laziness,  or  popularity-seeking.  Some  preachers  think  it  a 
great  thing  to  exchange  services  with  men  of  other  denomi- 
nations. Once  in  a  while,  you  hear  of  a  Baptist  society 
offering  to  a  Unitarian  society  the  use  of  its  meeting-house 
for  mouths,  omitting  a  part  of  its  own  services  to  accommo- 
date its  neighbors,  and  vice  versa.  Now,  if  it  is  a  serious 
matter,  a  matter  of  eternal  life  or  eternal  death,  to  the  Ortho- 
dox preacher  and  his  hearers,  what  obligation  is  he  under, 
nay,  what  right  has  he,  to  give  up  half  his  sabbath  to  a  man 
who  does  not  believe  it  makes  the  slightest  difference  to  a 
man  whether  he  professes  one  creed  or  another,  or  none  at 
all ;  to  a  man  who  holds  to  Pope's  doctrine,  which  is  the  gos- 
pel of  lazy  toleration  and  indiflerence,  — 

"For  modes  of  faitli  let  graceless  zealots  fight; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right  "  ? 

The  truth  was  the  secret  of  Mr.  Parker's  gi-eat  popularity 
and  influence.  He  represented  what  was,  to  a  very  great 
extent,  the  popular  estimate  of  the  Church  with  its  clergy 
and  leading  men.     Men  who  were  the  last  to  believe  in  anti- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  509 

slavciy,  in  teinporance,  in  reform  movements  generallj-, 
would  tolerate  Parker's  advocac}'  of  all  these  on  account 
of  the  "  dressing-down  "  which  he  gave  the  ministers  and 
chui'ch-members.  He  was  the  creature,  even  more  than  he 
was  the  creator,  of  those  unbelieving  times.  He  was  a  man 
of  a  centur}',  and,  besides  the  work  he  did  in  modifying  and 
softening  the  theology  of  New  England,  has  left  compara- 
tive h-  little  for  any  bod}'  else  to  do. 

Theodore  Parker  has  done  his  work,  and  is  gone.  We 
shall  hear  him  no  more.  The  best  description  of  him,  and 
a  piece  of  ver}'  just  criticism  too,  maj'  be  found  in  Lowell's 
"  Fable  for  Critics."  The  concluding  lines  are  all  I  have 
time  to  cop}- ;  but  the  whole  is  worth  reprinting  :  — 

"Every  word  that  he  speaks  has  been  fierily  fiirnaced 
In  the  blast  of  a  Hfe  that  has  struggled  in  earnest. 
There  he  stands,  looking  more  like  a  ploughman  than  priest; 
If  not  dreadfully  awkward,  not  graceful  at  least; 
His  gestures  all  downright  and  same,  if  you  will, 
As  of  brown-fisted  Hobnail  in  hoeing  a  drill. 
But  his  periods  fall  on  yon.  stroke  after  stroke, 
Like  the  blows  of  a  lumberer  felling  an  oak: 
You  forget  the  man  wholly;  you're  thankful  to  meet 
With  a  preacher  who  smacks  of  tlie  field  and  the  street, 
And  to  hear,  you're  not  over-particular  whence, 
Almost  Taylor's  profusion,  quite  Latimer's  sense." 

JUDGE    JULIUS    ROCKWELL    AND    THE    SUPREME    JUDICIAL 
COURT. 

When  a  vacanc}'  occurred  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  occasioned  b}-  the  resignation  of  Bigelow,  chief  jus- 
tice, I  had  the  honor  to  recommend  Julius  Rockwell  for  the 
vacanc}',  on  the  strength  of  his  decision,  that,  if  a  juror 
wanted  to  sec  the  General  Statutes  in  order  to  ascertain  what 
was  the  law  in  the  case  he  was  called  on  to  settle,  he  ought 
to  be  gratified.  This  decision,  you  know,  was  overruled  by 
the  Supreme  Judicial  Court:  our  theory  as  to  the  jury 
being,  that  nobody  but  a  fool  must  serve  thereon  ;  and,  in 
case  (as  too  frequently  happens)  a  sensible  man  happens  to 


510  "  WARRINGTON: " 

be  impanelled,  he  must  be  kept  as  ignorant  as  possible  of 
the  particular  case  which  he  has  to  determine.  If  a  little 
of  the  court's  must}'  and  stupid  "  law"  had  been  swapped 
for  Judge  Rockwell's  common  sense,  the  public  would  have 
been  the  gainer.  The  court  had  better  insist  upon  a  jury  of 
blind  men,  and  done  with  it ;  for  there  is  no  security,  in 
an}'  case,  that  some  one  of  the  twelve  arbiters  ma}'  not, 
at  some  time  or  other,  have  looked  into  the  statutes,  and 
have  remembered  something  he  there  read.  Partially  deaf 
men,  according  to  the  old  joke,  will  do  for  gi-and  jurors, 
because  they  are  only  obliged  to  hear  one  side  ;  but,  if  Rock- 
well was  wrong,  your  juror  ought  to  be,  not  only  blind,  but 
wholly  deaf.  A  dozen  wooden  men  would  be  preferable,  and 
far  cheaper :  let  them  be  a  panel,  in  every  sense  of  the 
word.  If  the  court  needs  any  thing,  it  is  not  more  legal 
learning,  but  originality  and  strength  enough  to  break  away 
from  its  musty  and  stupid  traditions. 

No  offices  have  been  so  eagerly  sought  for,  of  late  years, 
as  the  Supreme  and  Superior  Court  judgeships ;  and  the 
legal  footfall  has  been  oftener  heard  on  the  steps  leading  to 
the  governor's  room  than  any  other.  Tliere  is  no  harm  in 
this,  but  a  good  deal  of  cant  in  denying  it,  or  making  a 
pretence  to  the  contrary.  The  judicial  ermine  is  out  of 
date  ;  the  wig  is  a  by-gone  institution  ;  and  with  the  ermine 
and  the  wig  has  gone  the  idea  that  judges  are  any  different 
from  other  mortals.  Why  should  we  expect  them  to  be? 
Is  not  a  man  capable  of  giving  an  honest  decision  in  a  hun- 
dred-dollar lawsuit  unless  we  invest  him  in  our  minds  with 
godlike  attributes?  There  is  that  story  of  Judge  Grier, 
which  everybody  delights  in,  and  which  redeems  his  pro- 
slavery  record  from  utter  contempt,  —  how  he  set  aside  the 
unjust  verdict  of  a  jury  against  an  unpopular  man,  with  this 
remark,  "Enter  the  verdict,  Mr.  Clerk:  enter  also,  'Set 
aside  by  the  court.'  I  want  it  to  be  understood  that  it 
takes  thirteen  men  to  steal  a  man's  farm  in  this  court." 

I  hope  we  shall  some  time  get  rid  of  this  delusion,  that  we 
must  have  our  greatest  men  in  our  supreme  courts.     I  do 


PEN-PORTIiMTS.  511 

not  see  but  we  get  along  full  as  well  with  our  highest  court 
as  we  did  when  Shaw  and  "Wilde  and  Hubbard  and  Morton 
were  upon  it.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  any  enormous 
degree  of  abilitj-  is  required  to  decide  the  great  case  of 
Commonwealth  versus  Michael  Elwood,  carried  up  on  excep- 
tions, in  which  the  point  was,  whether  the  indictment  describ- 
ing the  property  stolen  b}'  Michael  was  properly  described  in 
the  indictment.  "Four  domestic  fowls,  otherwise  called 
barn-door  fowls,"  said  the  indictment.  Michael,  b\-  his 
counsel,  contended  that  this  was  not  a  sufficient  descrijDtion  ; 
and  the  attornej'-general  was  compelled  to  cite  the  diction- 
aries, and  Woods's  "Natural  Ilistor}',"  and  Macaulay's 
"  Essays,"  in  order  that  the  court  above  might  be  satisfied, 
and  Michael  be  punished  for  his  larceny.  For  my  part,  I 
think  some  means  ought  to  be  devised  for  keeping  such 
questions  as  this  out  of  the  Supreme  Court.  What  differ- 
ence could  it  make  to  Michael  Elwood  whether  the  fowls 
were  minutely  described  or  not?  If  the  district-attorney 
had  followed  Milton,  and  accused  Michael  of  stealing  four 
"  tame,  villatic  fowls,"  I  cannot  see  that  the  prisoner  would 
have  had  any  right  to  complain.  It  is  too  bad  that  lawyers 
should  be  allowed  to  obstruct  justice  in  this  wa}-,  or  that 
courts  should  be  compelled  to  hear  such  absurd  questions 
debated. 

There  was  another  case,  not  long  ago,  in  which  one  of 
the  minor  points  was,  whether  a  weapon  used  in  a  case  of 
manslaughter  was  sufficiently  described  when  described  as  a 
"  whipstock."  I  don't  know  how  this  tremendous  point 
was  decided ;  but  it  seems  to  me,  that,  for  the  decision  of 
such  a  question,  the  less  of  a  law3-er  you  have  on  the  bench, 
the  better.  I  suppose  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  court  of 
appeals  ;  but  it  surel}'  ought  to  be  for  some  better  purpose 
than  fussing  over  these  questions.  If  Judge  Brigham  or 
Judge  Rockwell  can  sentence  Michael  Elwood  to  any  punish- 
ment which  seems  fair  and  just  under  the  statute  provisions, 
surel}-  they  are  capable  of  passing  upon  the  question,  whether 
his  offence  was  correctl}'  and  fully  described  or  not.     And 


512  "WARRINGTON:" 

it  seems  as  if  a  statute  might  be  framed  which  would  keep 
such  questions  as  this,  not  only  from  going  up,  but  from 
being  raised  at  all :  but  the  small  law^-ers  would  fight 
against  it,  I  suppose,  and  declaim  about  Runnymede,  and 
fancj'  themselves  Pjins  and  Sidneys  and  Hampdens  ;  and  we 
should  never  hear  the  last  of  it. 

The  attempt  to  introduce  into  legislative  proceedings  the 
rubbish  known  as  the  "  rules  of  law  and  evidence,"  which 
have  overlaid  the  courts,  darkened  counsel,  obscured  common 
sense,  and  hindered  justice,  for  so  many  hundred  3'ears,  is 
not  very  likely  to  succeed.  It  is  much  more  probable  tliat  the 
practice  in  the  courts  will  by  and  by  be  made  more  nearly 
to  conform  to  the  rules  of  common  sense  which  prevail  in 
legislative  assemblies,  town-meetings,  and  political  and 
social  life.  Hearsay? — why  should  you  not  act  upon  hear- 
say? You  buy  and  sell,  marry  and  are  given  in  marriage, 
vote  and  govern,  upon  hearsa}- :  why  not  try  causes  on  hear- 
saj',  onlj'  scrutinizing  and  sifting  your  hearsay  as  3'ou  ought 
to  in  all  things?  Wliy  not  let  common  sense  get  into  the 
court  as  well  as  into  the  pulpit  and  into  the  medical  school  ? 
You  trust  your  body  to  a  doctor's  hearsay,  and  your  soul  to 
a  minister's  hearsay :  let  a  witness's  and  a  lawj-er's  and  a 
judge's  be  just  as  serviceable  for  the  imprisoned  juror,  and 
as  innocent  for  the  beleagured  prisoner  or  plaintiff  or  de- 
fendant. The  ermine  (real  or  constructive),  and  the  robe, 
and  the  white  cravat,  and  the  oath,  and  the  ridiculous  formu- 
la of  the  indictment  and  complaint  and  pleading, — mak- 
ing it  a  necessity  to  tell  a  score  of  lies  to  get  at  one  truth,  — 
are  only  a  part  of  that  mystery  and  humbug  by  which  the 
human  mind  is  enslaved,  as  by  the  surplice  of  the  clergyman, 
and  the  Latin  prescription  of  the  doctor. 

Ah !  when  I  think  of  Judge  Rockwell  and  of  Judge  Colt, 
admirable  on  and  off  the  bench,  I  withdraw  all  offensive 
sarcasm. 

ROBERT    RANTOUL. 

Mr.  Rantoul  was,  be^'ond  all  question,  the  ablest  man  of 
the  Democratic  party  in  New  England,  and,  with  the  excep- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  513 

tion  of  Mr.  Webster,  the  ablest  man  of  any  party.  As  a 
debater,  he  had  few,  if  an}',  equals  in  the  whole  countr}' ; 
while  his  addresses  in  court  and  before  the  people  were 
models  of  clear,  concise,  and  lucid  argumentation.  Mr. 
Rantoul  was  from  his  early  manhood  a  Democrat.  Although 
of  a  Federal  and  Whig  family,  and  possessing  talents  which 
would  have  given  him  any  station  he  should  choose,  had  he 
preferred  to  act  with  the  Whig  party,  he  fought  for  and  with 
the  Democratic  party  of  the  State  during  many  3-ears,  in 
which  it  struggled  along  in  a  hopeless  and  meagre  minority. 
He  defended  its  doctrines  in  the  legislature.  It  is  among 
the  choicest  reminiscences  of  old  Democrats  how  Mr.  Ran- 
toul used  to  meet  the  Whig  debaters  in  the  House,  and 
alwaj's  vanquished  them  by  superior  argument  or  superior 
skill-  Before  the  people  he  was  also  indefatigable,  and  did 
more  than  a  score  of  any  other  men  to  give  his  part}-  a  strong 
position.  Better  than  all  this,  Mr.  Rantoul  was  a  Democrat 
in  something  more  than  a  part}-  sense.  He  studied  and 
believed  the  doctrines  of  Thomas  Jefferson  ;  and,  for  carry- 
ing them  out  to  their  true  results,  he  was  driven  out  of  his 
party. 

He  was  a  leading  temperance  man  ;  and  the  opponents  of 
the  gallows  will  always  remember  that  their  strongest  and 
sharpest  weapons  to  hew  down  that  institution  were  forged 
in  Mr.  Rantoul's  workshop.  At  a  later  day,  and  up  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  he  was  the  determined  enemy  of  slavery. 
It  detracts  not  one  iota  from  his  sincerity  in  this  respect  that 
he  concluded  not  to  oppose  the  election  of  Gen.  Pierce. 

We  shall  not  forget  hearing  him  proclaim  at  Salem  in 
1850-51,  in  his  boldest  and  most  emphatic  manner,  the  great 
truth,  that  "  liberty  is  national,  and  slavery  is  sectional,"  — 
a  truth  which,  fully  acted  upon,  will  destroy  slavery.  For  a 
man  who  has  broken  away  from  a  proslavery  party,  and 
acted  in  other  ranks,  such  a  declaration  would  be  as  easy  as 
an}'  other  word :  not  so  for  a  man  who  designed  to  remain  in 
a  party  until  it  was  purified,  or  so  long  as  he  could  see  a 
chance  of  effecting  good  results  by  remaining.     The  persecu- 


514  "WARRINGTON:" 

tiou  to  wliicih  Mr.  Rantoul  was  subjected  in  Ms  own  party, 
and  the  steadiness  with  which  he  resisted  it,  are  proofs  of 
his  sincerity,  which  the  antislavery  men  of  this  State  will 
always  remember  with  gratitude.  To  his  part}-,  which  he 
had  built  up,  and  in  which  he  was  destined  to  take  a  still 
more  prominent  position,  and  to  the  country,  whicli  can  ill 
afford  to  lose  so  great  a  man,  Mr.  Rantoul' s  death  is  an 
iiTeparable  loss. 

ELBRIDGE  GERRY  ROBINSON.^ 

Mr.  Robinson  was  born  in  Concord,  Mass.,  on  the  24th 
of  June,  1805.  He  was  apprenticed  to  the  trade  of  a 
carriage-painter ;  and,  after  serving  his  time  at  Concord, 
went  to  Salem,  where  he  worked  at  the  same  business.  In 
1831  he  removed  to  Dedham,  where,  for  a  time,  he  followed 
the  same  calling.  Here  he  was  in  the  habit  of  writing  for 
the  newspapers,  —  both  for  "The  Advertiser"  and  "The 
Patriot,"  we  believe.  "The  Advertiser"  was  then  pub- 
lished b}'  Mr.  Ebenezer  Fish.  Mr.  Robinson  contributed 
man}'  tales  and  sketches  to  its  columns,  and  an  endless 
number  of  anecdotes  and  jokes,  man}-  of  which  were  ex- 
quisitely told,  and  some  of  which  are  even  now  standing 
favorites  of  the  newspapers,  and  re-appear  every  j-ear  as 
regularl}-  almost  as  the  counting-house  almanac.-  At  this 
time,  being  in  high  health  and  spirits,  and  possessed  of  an 
admirable  humor,  and  fine  power  of  amusing  his  friends, 
Mr.  Robinson  was  the  favorite  of  all  who  knew  him.  Dis- 
ease soon  came  to  sadden,  in  some  degree,  his  exuberant 
cheerfulness  ;  but  to  the  last,  among  his  friends  and  rela- 
tives, he  was  a  cheerful  and  ver}'  humorous  man. 
■  After  Mr.  Fish  died,  Mr.  Robinson  purchased  "  The  Ad- 
vertiser," in  August,  1837.  He  published  it  by  that  name 
until  Februar}',  1839,  when  he  made  it  a  political  paper,  and 
styled  it  "  The  Democrat."     He  supported  the  Democratic 


1  "Warrington's  eldest  brotlier." 

2  See  Appendix  D. 


i 


PEN-PORTRAITS:  515 

policy  and  nominations  until  1848,  when  he  and  his  paper 
went  with  the  Free-Soil  party  for  Mr.  Van  Buren.  His 
health  soon  began  to  fail,  however,  and  his  intei'est  in 
partisan  politics  diminished  ;  and  more  of  his  attention  was 
paid  to  literary-  matters  and  general  miscellan}-.  He  was  a 
great  reader  of  books,  and  a  careful  saver  of  them. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  strictlj-  the  friend  of  order,  of  temper- 
ance, of  freedom,  of  peace,  of  good  neighborhood,  to  all 
men.  His  weekly  visit  to  his  subscribers  Avas  a  pleasant 
and  kindl}^  one,  and  he  brought  no  vicious  counsel  vdth  him. 
At  last,  when  the  end  approached,  he  was  read}'  and  willing 
to  go  ;  his  thoughts  of  family  and  friends  being  not  anxious, 
but  cheerful  and  confident,  and  his  reliance  in  the  goodness  of 
God  sustaining  him  through  all  his  sickness  to  the  last  dread 
end.  He  died  peacefull}-  and  happily  as  he  had  always  lived. 
His  outward  circumstances  were  pleasant.  Blessed  with 
an  affectionate  wife  and  two  children,  and  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  his  lot  might  be  called  a  happ}-  one,  except  these 
bonds  of  disease.  The  wise  definition  of  wealth  might 
apply  to  him ;  and,  ti'ied  b^'  it,  he  was  a  rich  man  :  ' '  The 
wealth  of  a  man  is  the  number  of  things  he  loves  and 
blesses,  the  number  of  things  he  is  loved  and  blessed  by." 
But  he  has  left  his  house  and  his  friends,  and  "  the  warm 
precincts  of  the  cheerful  da}-."  Peace  to  his  memory-,  which 
shall  be  ever  pleasant  to  all  Avho  knew  him  ! 

"Blue  be  the  sky,  and  soft  the  breeze; 
Earth  green  beneath  Ihy  feet; 
And  be  the  damp  mound  gcutly  pressed 
Into  thy  narrow  place  of  rest. 

Thei-e,  through  the  long,  long  suuiiuer-hours, 

The  golden  light  shall  lie. 
And  thick  young  herbs,  and  groups  of  flowers, 

Stand  in  their  beauty  by; 
The  oriole  shall  build,  and  toll 
His  love-tale  close  beside  thy  cell ; 

The  idle  butterfly 
Shall  rest  him  there;  and  there  be  heard 
The  housewife-bee  and  humming-bird. 


516 


"WARRINGTON:" 


And  if,  around  his  place  of  sleep, 

The  friends  he  loved  should  come  and  weep, 

They  might  not  haste  to  go : 
Soft  airs  and  song  and  light  and  bloom 
Shall  keep  them  lingering  by  his  tomb ; 


There  to  their  softened  hearts  shall  bear 
The  thoughts  of  what  has  been, 

And  speak  of  one  who  cannot  share 
The  gladness  of  the  scene ; 

Whose  part  in  all  the  pomp  that  fills 

The  circuit  of  the  summer  hills 
Is,  that  his  grave  is  green." 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  5l7 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

BEIEF  BIOGEAPHIES  {Continued). 

CHARLES    SUMNER. 
[In  1863.] 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Sumner  is  not  so  fascinating  as  he  was 
ten  or  twenty  j'ears  ago  ;  and  there  is  good  reason  for  this. 
His  life  has  been  "  fierilj'  furnaced,"  for  the  last  fifteen 
3'ears,  in  a  heat  such  as  few  men  in  this  country  have  ever 
undergone.  Eighteen  or  twenty  3'ears  ago,  —  say  in  1846 
and  1847, — when  he  first  came  into  the  Whig  conventions 
with  Stephen  C.  Phillips,  and  Charles  Francis  Adams,  and 
John  G.  Palfrej',  and  Charles  Allen,  and  William  Dwight, 
and  fought  Webster  and  Ashmun  and  Winthrop  on  the 
question  of  making  vital  the  Whig  antislaver^'  resolutions 
of  the  previous  ten  years  b}'  virtually'  pledging  the  Whig 
party  to  resist  an}'  further  slaveholding  and  doughface  nomi- 
nation for  national  office,  —  at  this  time  he  was  not  onl}-  an 
earnest,  strong,  and  argumentative  orator,  but  a  careful 
student  of  the  graces  of  st^-le  ;  and  he  was  listened  to  with 
almost  as  attentive  an  ear,  and  looked  at  witli  almost  as 
admiring  an  eye,  as  Mr.  Everett  himself.  Neither  of  them 
could  ever,  for  spontaneity  and  the  natural  oratorical  gift, 
compare  with  Wendell  Phillips ;  and  his  power  of  pleasing 
seems  never  to  grow  old. 

But  Sumner,  ever  since  1856,  has  had  other  work  to  do 
besides  studying  the  graces  and  tricks  which  are  the  proper 
exercises  of  the  holida}-  orator,  and  which  not  even  great 


518  ''WABRINGTON:" 

and  spontaneous  orators  are  exempt  from.  He  has  become 
a  great  statesman,  an  expert  debater,  a  fiery  propagandist 
of  ideas  ;  a  man  to  ride  tlie  wliirlwind  of  civil  controversy, 
and  direct  the  storm  of  opinion  which  is  to  determine  for  a 
quarter  or  half  a  centur}-,  for  good  or  evil,  the  destinies  of 
the  country.  Mr.  Sumner's  words  are  "  half-battles:"  they 
are  as  hard  as  cannon-balls,  and  well  aimed  from  an  Arm- 
strong gun.  No  man  in  the  civil  service,  —  if  we  except  Mr. 
Lincoln  himself,  and  perhaps  one  or  two  of  his  advisers, 
■who  have  had  to  do  with  the  executive  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  who  could  do  things  with  or  without,  or  even 
against,  popular  or  congressional  approval,  and  defy  conse- 
quences, —  no  man  has  had  so  great  influence  upon  the  des- 
tinies of  the  country  for  the  last  four  years. 

One  great  secret  of  his  power  is  his  intense  personality. 
He  is  so  thoroughly'  in  earnest,  and  so  conscious  of  his  power, 
that  no  obstacle  seems  to  him  too  great  to  be  overcome. 
His  capacity  for  business  is  very  great.  His  habits  are 
orderly  and  systematic.  He  is  frank  in  his  dealings  with  all 
men  who  come  tahim  for  aid  or  advice.  If  he  agrees  to  do 
a  thing,  he  goes  to  work  and  does  it,  or  at  least  attempts  it, 
and  is  not  satisfied  with  one  repulse  ;  so  that,  with  his  won- 
derful earnestness  and  industry,  he  is  more  than  a  match,  as 
a  friend  or  an  enemj',  for  half  a  dozen  lukewarm  or  indif- 
ferent men  who  may  be  arrayed  against  him.  In  the  Senate 
he  has  many  influential  personal  enemies,  who  do  not  like 
his  style  of  doing  things,  — peevish  men,  like  Fessenden  ;  or 
men  who  feel  obliged  to  cater  somewhat  to  North-western 
negro  dislike,  like  Trumbull ;  or  toadeaters,  like  Doolittle. 
But  more  flexibility  in  the  Senate  would  be  attained,  proba- 
bly, at  the  expense  of  those  great  and  overmastering  qualities 
which  make  him  one  of  the  powers  and  estates  of  the  country. 
Of  course,  the  great  secret,  after  all,  is  the  fact  that  he  is 
right,  and  is  with  the  people  in  the  front  rank  of  the  pro- 
cession ;  no  straggler,  and  never  footsore. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  519 

[In  1S74.] 

Mr.  Sumner  ^'.oulcl  not  be  properly  described  as  "  a  hu- 
morist ;  "  yet  he  was  b}'  no  means  incapable  of  enjo3-ing  and 
making  a  joke,  and  was  an  excellent  companion  at  the  table 
where  humor  is  relished.  Bishop  Haven  sa3-s  he  was  the 
"  chiefcst  of  our  statesmen."  A  philanthropist,  I  suppose, 
is  one  who  loves  his  fellow-man,  and  is,  with  more  or  less 
constanc}',  emploj-ed  in  devising  plans  and  gathering  mone}' 
for  alleviating  the  condition  of  ma?i,  especially  the  criminal, 
the  pauper,  and  the  ph3'sically  unfortunate.  He  is  sometimes 
a  statesman  besides  ;  i.e.,  if  he  gets  time  to  be.  Now,  Mr. 
Sumner  was  one  who  did  not  care  for  or  deal  with  man., 
but  with  men;  whose  studies  were  in  the  direction  of  the 
rights  of  races,  not  attracted  toward  the  misfortunes  of 
individuals.  This  is  manifest  ever3-where  in  his  life  and 
labor.  I  don't  remember  any  exception  to  this  since  the 
prison-discipline  controvers}^  forty  ^-ears  ago,  even  if  this 
was  an  exception.  It  was  the  barbarism  of  slaver}-^  in  the 
sense  of  slavery  being  a  denial  of  the  right  of  man  to  him- 
self, it  was  the  crime  against  Kansas  as  a  State,  as  a  body 
politic,  which  mainly  excited  his  ire ;  and  it  was  because 
he  was  a  man  of  this  great  statesmanlike  quality  that  he  so 
disappointed  at  last  some  even  of  his  greatest  friends,  who 
had  misconceived  his  bent,  and  Avere  afraid  he  was  merel3'  a 
philanthropist  like  (for  example)  Mr.  Gerritt  Smith  in  his 
younger  da3s,  John  Howard  of  England,  and  others.  Mr, 
Sumner  seems  to  me  to  have  been  a  man  more  like  Sir  Sam- 
uel Romill3'  in  this  statesmanlike  bent ;  and  Sir  Samuel  was 
one  of  the  greatest  and  best  of  Englishmen,  as  the  English 
Whig  part3'  was  the  greatest  and  best  party  that  ever  ex- 
isted. 

AVhen  Mr.  Sumner  (in  18G1)  was  on  a  visit  to  Washing- 
ton, a  Boston  contractor  to  whom  the  government  owed 
considerable  mone3'  went  on  to  collect  it.     He  took  certain 

^  It  was  ""Warrington's"  opinion,  that  Mr.  Sumuor's  Introduction  to 
his  book  ou  White  Slavery  in  the  Barbary  States  was  the  best  thing 
he  ever  wrote. 


520  ''WARRINGTON:" 

other  claims  with  him ;  among  them  one  of  forty  thousand 
dollars,  which  a  Boston  merchant  of  the  most  extreme  and 
ultra  hunkerism  intrusted  to  him.  When  the  contractor 
returned,  he  met  the  hunker  merchant,  and  told  him  he  had 
succeeded  in  getting  his  mone}'.  Overflowing,  not  only  with 
gratitude  and  jo}^  but  with  surprise,  hunker  asked,  "  Wh}' ! 
how  did  3'ou  get  it  ?  I  had  no  idea  you  would  be  successful 
in  getting  it."  —  "  Oh  !  "  said  the  other,  "  I  had  nothing  to 
do  with  it.  Sumner  happened  to  be  in  Washington  ;  and  I 
put  the  matter  in  his  hands,  and  he  fixed  it."  —  "Well," 
said  hunker,  "  it  does  seem  as  if  Sumner  was  growing  more 
and  more  practical  every  3-ear."  Under  an  administration 
like  Buchanan's  or  Pierce's,  when  it  was  an  open  question 
whether  Sumner  should  be  on  any  committee,  it  does  not 
seem  a  matter  of  surprise  that  he  did  not  obtain  a  reputation 
as  a  practical  man.  But  it  would  be  difficult  to  name  a 
man,  —  and  this  is  the  universal  testimony  of  those  who 
have  been  to  Washington  on  business,  and  have  asked  Mr. 
Sumner's  aid,  —  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
find  a  man  so  industrious,  methodical,  thorough,  energetic, 
and  successful,  in  attending  to  pure  matters  of  business. 
This  is  the  simple  fact,  and  no  exaggeration  whatever. 
His  gi-eat  practical  talent  excels  that  of  almost  every  man 
we  have  ever  sent  to  Congress. 

When  the  people  I  have  mentioned  found  out,  as  they 
did  during  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration,  that  the  great 
senator  was  as  prompt  a  business-man  as  the  State  ever  sent 
to  Washington ;  and,  later,  when  they  relied  on  him  always 
for  sound  views  of  financial  questions  according  to  the  best 
traditions  and  experience,  —  they  were  invariably  glad  to  see 
him  here,  especially  after  the  Greeley  matter  had  a  little 
blown  over,  and  it  was  found  that  "  nepotism,"  though 
carried  a  little  too  far  in  the  line  of  thoroughness  of  illus- 
tration, was  not  unjust  to  the  presidential  head  of  the 
nation.  Who  that  remembers  the  events  of  1861,  1862, 
and  1863,  and  Mr.  Sumner's  struggles  to  get  rid  of  the 
conservative  and  Union-saving  method  of  carrying  on  the 


1 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  521 

war  by  adopting  Mr.  Seward's  and  Mr.  Adams's  plan  of 
guaranteeing  that  slaver}'  should  no  longer  in  the  States  live 
a  threatened  life,  but  should  be  made  secure  b}'  positive 
constitutional  provision,  —  who  that  remembers  his  speeches 
at  our  State  conventions,  and  their  contrast  with  the 
instructions  given  to  Mr.  Adams  by  the  State  Department, 
can  saj-  that  he  was  something  else  more  than  he  was  a 
"  statesman"  ? 

In  1862  there  was  a  contest  of  political  ideas  in  Massa- 
chusetts, which  men  of  the  antislavery  school  ought  to 
remember  and  appreciate.  It  was  the  year  when  hunkerism 
here  in  Massachusetts  organized  itself  to  prevent  the  re- 
election of  John  A.  Andrew  as  governor,  and  Charles  Sum- 
ner as  senator.  It  was  the  j-ear  when  was  decided  the 
question,  whether  a  more  radical  issue  should  or  should  not 
be  made  with  the  rebellion  ;  whether  Africa  should  be  carried 
into  the  war  by  the  employment  of  black  men  as  soldiers ; 
and  whether  the  government  should  stop  maundering  and 
snivelling  about  the  abstract  question  of  the  right  to  secede, 
and  fight  out  the  war  on  the  real  and  vital  issue, — the 
existence  of  slavery.  I  saj',  it  was  the  j-ear  when  this  ques- 
tion was  decided ;  because  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  if 
Massachusetts  had  fallen  back  in  1862,  and  had  defeated 
Andrew  and  Sumner,  Mr.  Lincoln  would  not  have  gone 
forward,  or,  at  least,  not  have  gone  forward  so  firmlj-,  and 
have  raised  the  issue  which  final!}-  gave  us  victor}-  by  enlist- 
ing on  one  side  the  moral  power,  Avhich  was  stronger  than 
regiments. 

I  well  remember  the  incident  (in  1862),  when  a  few  radical 
Republicans,  four  or  five  at  most,  organized  the  plan  of 
compelling  the  Republican  State  Convention  to  nominate 
Mr.  Sumner,  and  of  fighting  the  "People's"  party,  as  it 
dared  to  call  itself,  on  its  own  chosen  "conservative" 
gi'ound ;  and,  if  any  one  doubts  the  difficulties  of  the  situa- 
tion, I  should  like  to  have  him  look  back,  and  read  the 
speeches  and  resolutions  of  Joel  Parker  and  Leverett  Salton- 
stall,  and  the  men  who  tried  by  that  movement  to  make  the 


522  "WARRINGTON: " 

war  a  war  for  "the  flag"  only,  and  not  for  freedom  and 
regeneration.  Charles  Sumner  was  the  great  central  figure 
of  that  contest ;  and,  from  that  time  forward  to  the  end  of 
reconstruction,  he  was  the  great  civic  hero  of  the  crisis. 
Deny  it  who  ma}-,  histor}'  will  inevitably  and  with  emphasis 
declare  this ;  and  there  is  no  power  which  can  obliterate 
the  record. 

I  have  seen  but  little  reference,  in  all  the  tributes  made  to 
the  character  of  our  great  senator,  to  his  strong  solicitude 
for  the  spread  and  permanency  of  republican  ideas  in 
Europe.  I  have  many  times  been  struck  with  the  uniformity 
of  his  opinion  as  to  the  fitness  of  all  those  peoples  for  the 
fi'eest  and  most  flexible  governments.  The  French,  he 
always  insisted,  were  as  flt  for  republicans  as  anybody. 
An  established  republican  and  democrat  himself,  he  never 
dreamed  of  making  exceptions  ;  and,  even  although  he  had 
specialties  and  particular  objects  for  his  democratic  fury,  he 
never,  as  far  as  I  know,  doubted  the  theory  of  democracy', 
or  dreamed  that  there  were  or  could  be  any  exceptions  to  it. 
This  seems  to  me  one  of  the  chief  glories  of  his  character. 

GEORGE    L.    STEARNS. 

Few  men  are  left  in  Boston  to  sustain  so  well  as  Mr. 
Stearns  the  reputation  its  merchant  philanthropists  have 
given  it.  He  was  by  no  means  one  of  her  richest  men, 
though  he  was  in  very  successful  business,  and  in  the  receipt 
of  a  large  yearly  income.  He  did  not  give  money  by  the 
million  dollars  at  a  time,  —  he  could  not  aflbrd  that,  — but 
he  gave  ver}'  liberally  for  a  great  diversity  of  objects,  and 
always  for  good  ones.  And,  besides,  he  gave  what  was 
much  better  than  money,  —  time,  more  than  he  could  well 
spare  from  his  extensive  business  ;  energy,  which,  to  a  man 
of  his  frail  body  and  feeble  health,  was  a  part  of  life  itself; 
rare  organizing  faculty,  which  made  every  man  feel  that  his 
projects  were  feasible ;  strong  persuasive  powers  and  un- 
daunted perseverance,  which  converted  the  unwilling,  and 
conquered  the  stubborn  ;  faith,  which  removed  mountains  of 


PEN-POBTRAITS.  523 

difBcult}' ;  and  a,  clieerfiil  optimism,  -which  made  everybod}'  he 
met  satisfied  that  the  battle,  wliatever  it  miglit  be,  Avas  sure 
to  be  won  before  long.  So  that,  although  man}-  men  have 
given  more  money  for  philanthropic  objects,  few,  if  any, 
have  contributed  more  greatl}'  to  their  success :  and  the 
hundred  thousand  dollars  which  we  are  assured  he  gave  for 
public  purposes  and  in  private  charities  within  the  last 
dozen  or  fifteen  3ears  really  represented,  probabl}',  fivefold 
that  sura,  even  in  money  ;  and  the  heart-work  and  brain-vrork 
with  Avhich  ho  accompanied  it  were  beyond  all  price. 

"We  suppose  no  man  not  direct!}^  enlisted  in  the  Kansas 
controvers}^  either  in  the  field  of  actual  conflict  or  in  the 
halls  of  legislation  at  Washington,  did  so  much  as  Major 
Stearns  for  the  freedom  of  that  State.  He  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  John  Browm,  that  breaker  of  human,  and  builder 
of  divine,  law  ;  and  furnished  him  with  arms  for  that  liberat- 
ing enterprise  into  Virginia,  which,  rather  than  the  siege 
of  Sumter,  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  war.  He  offered 
his  services  to  the  government  in  the  enlistment  of  colored 
troops,  and  carried  into  that  work  a  faculty'  for  organization 
such  as  few  men  in  this  community  possessed  ;  and  to  him, 
in  a  large  degree,  is  due  the  success  of  the  movement.  When 
the  Avar  closed,  ho  entered  upon  the  work  of  agitation  for 
the  complete  enfranchisement  of  the  race  he  had  helped  to 
liberate,  and  sent  forth  his  pamphlets,  papers,  and  broad 
sheets,  gratuitously,  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  at  one  time  issuing  no  less  than  sixt}'  thousand  Aveekl}- 
of  "The  Right  Way." 

Always  disposed  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  things,  he 
allowed  liimself  to  be  mistaken  in  the  character  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  with  whom  he  had  found  it  eas}'  to  co-operate  in 
Tennessee  ;  but  no  pride  of  opinion  stood  in  the  way  of  his 
read}'  acquiescence  in  what  was  soon  found  to  be  the  true 
and  the  universal  view,  by  all  good  men,  of  tlie  President's 
character.  He  was  no  politician  ;  never  asked  for  nor  hold 
an  office  :  yet  he  Avas  the  trusted  friend  of  the  best  of  our 
politicians ;  and  no  man's  advice  was  ofteuer  sought  by  our 


524  ''WARRINGTON  r' 

senators  and  representatives  and  governors.  He  was  of  a 
singularly  transparent  and  sincere  nature  ;  so  that  no  man 
ever  dreamed  of  doubting  or  distrusting  him  in  the  slightest 
degree.  His  3-ea  was  j-ea  ;  and  his  na}-,  nay :  yet  he  was  the 
readiest  man  in  the  world  to  jield  in  matters  of  detail  to  his 
friends,  when  he  believed  them  to  be  better  informed  or 
more  sagacious  than  himself.  But  we  need  not  say  more. 
A  great  number  of  his  friends  and  associates  of  all  classes 
of  societ}',  and  of  all  creeds  in  religion, — mercantile  friends, 
political  friends,  philanthropic  friends,  literar}'  friends,  and 
friendly  neighbors  and  townsmen,  —  assembled  at  Medford, 
where  he  lived,  to  pay  the  last  honors  to  the  deceased  citizen ; 
and  then  the  assembled  friends  went  awa}'  sorrowing. 

He  will  live  in  the  hearts  of  his  friends  so  long  as 
mcmoi'y  endures.  The  world  is  poorer  for  his  loss ;  but 
humanit}'  has  been  infinitelj'  enriched  by  his  life  and  ex- 
ample. His  name  will  attend  that  of  America's  chiefest 
mart3'r,  and  posterit}^  will  know  and  honor  him  as  the  friend 
of  John  Brown. 

WILLIAM   H.    SEWARD. 

Scarcely  any  man  of  note  has  been  so  well  liked,  and  so 
grievously  disliked,  by  the  same  people,  at  various  times 
during  the  last  twelve  years,  as  Mr.  Seward.  He  did  great 
service  to  the  antislavery  cause,  and  in  a  general  way,  before 
he  entered  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet.  He  was  bold  enough  to 
be  an  anti-Mason,  and  never  showed  any  tolerance  toward 
Know-Nothingism.  I  can  call  to  mind  only  two  other  lead- 
ing men  of  his  rank  — viz.,  Sumner  and  Henry  A.  Wise — who 
fought  the  "American"  movement  boldl3\  Wise's  fight  in 
Virginia  broke  the  back  of  that  peculiarly  odious  and  anti- 
American  part}^ ;  Sumner  made  grand  speeches  against  it ; 
and  Seward  was  always  hostile  to  it.  Let  each  be  freshl}^ 
remembered  for  this.  Yet  Seward  and  Sumner  very  likelj' 
thought  their  diplomatic  wisdom  one  of  their  chief  claims  to 
recollection  and  gratitude. 

The  four  or  five  big  volumes  of  the  secretary's  correspond- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  525 

ence  with  our  ministers  abroad  and  with  the  ministers  of 
foreign  governments  are  about  as  valuable  for  principles  as 
so  man}-  pages  of  arguments  before  the  Municipal  Court  iu 
Boston.  Mr.  Evarts  was  appointed  to  go  to  Geneva  because 
"  The  Alabama  "  case  was  a  great  lawsuit,  and  it  was  need- 
ful to  send  a  lawj-er  who  was  in  the  habit  of  winning  cases. 
Mr.  Evarts  and  the  rest  got  fifteen  million  dollars  ;  or,  say, 
fifty  cents  apiece  for  every  person  in  the  United  States.  A 
heav}'  lawsuit.  Frankness,  honest}",  openness,  and  fair  deal- 
ing, by  Mr.  Seward  on  our  part,  and  an  equal  amount  of  the 
same  qualtities  on  the  part  of  England,  in  the  outset,  would 
have  saved  all  the  gab,  and  the  spoiling  of  white  paper,  and 
the  wear  and  tear  of  conscience,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
were  sent  abroad,  or  staid  at  home,  "to  lie  for  their  coun- 
tr}-."  A  great  lawsuit  indeed!  Divided  into  its  elements, 
it  would  have  been  settled  as  easily  as  nine- tenths  of  the 
claims  are  now  settled. 

WILLIAM   STOWE. 

Few  private  citizens  could  have  died,  whose  death  would 
have  occasioned  more  regret  than  that  of  William  Stowe. 
When  he  was  at  the  State  House  last,  he  told  me  that  he  had 
been  to  see  the  legislature  ever}-  3-ear  for  thirt}-  years,  except 
the  3'ear  1870.  In  1871  he  was  in  Boston  on  the  occasion  of 
the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  post-ofUce,  and  dined 
with  the  Bird  Club,  the  members  of  which  were  among  his 
best  friends.  He  was  always  welcome  at  their  table,  and,  for 
that  matter,  in  ever}-  place  where  good,  witty,  cheery  conver- 
sation was  liked.  On  this  last  occasion,  I  found  him,  feeble 
as  he  was,  as  fond  of  a  joke,  and  almost  as  well  able  to 
entertain  his  friends,  as  ever. 

Mr.  Stowe's  humor  was  of  a  rare  quality ;  but  his 
thorough  contempt  for  cant,  shams,  and  humbugs,  was  one  of 
his  most  endearing  and  enduring  qualities.  I  have  many 
letters  from  him,  —  mostly  between  1862  and  1865,  during 
the  war,  —  which  I  wish  I  had  time  to  look  up.  They  are 
short,   sharp,   pith}',    and   almost    invariably   contain  some 


526  "WARRINGT02T: " 

humorous  ' '  dig ' '  at  one  or  more  of  the  most  transparent 
of  the  popular  humbugs.  McClellan  in  the  height  of  his 
popularit}',  and  Johnson  from  the  moment. he  began  to  show 
signs  of  apostatizing,  were  his  special  objects  of  contempt. 

I  saw  much  of  him  in  1858,  and  so  on,  until  he  left  the 
office  of  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  an 
excellent  parliamentarian,  —  all  the  better  for  having  a  con- 
tempt for  the  niceties  and  lore  and  precedents  of  his  pro- 
fession ;  and  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  first  and  only 
parliamentary  principle, — how  to  get  at  the  v»-ill  of  the 
assembl}'  in  the  quickest  wa3'.  On  one  occasion  he  was  told, 
in  the  hearing  of  the  House,  b}'  the  speaker,  "The  clerk  will 
do  so  and  so."  —  "  The  clerk  will  do  as  he  thinks  proper  about 
it,"  said  Mr.  Stowe,  loudl}'  enough  to  be  heard  not  oul}' 
by  the  speaker,  but  by  members.  IIa^■ing  promised  to 
perform  the  duties  of  his  office  to  the  best  of  his  abilit}',  he 
could  not  do  otherwise,  as  recording  officer,  than  to  make  up 
the  record,  or  make  his  indorsement,  according  to  the  fact, 
subject,  of  course,  to  express  order  of  the  House,  and  not 
of  the  speaker.  1  imagine  he  must  have  got  that  odd  habit 
of  suddenly-  shaking  his  head  from  side  to  side  from  a  feel- 
ing of  discontent  at  hearing  frivolous  points  of  order  raised 
for  the  delay  of  business. 

He  was  first  chosen  in  1854,  succeeding  Col.  Schouler. 
The  Know-Xothing  stupidit}'  overtook  the  State  in  the  fall 
of  that  year.  He  was  not  the  man  to  yield  to  that,  of  course, 
either  before  or  after  the  election ;  and  so  had  to  give  waj-  to 
the  caucus  candidate.  The  House  was  glad  to  restore  him 
in  1857  ;  and  he  held  the  office  until  1862,  when  he  declined 
a  re-election,  and  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Springfield.^ 
Xobody  better  deserved  the  place,  either  on  account  of  fit- 
ness or  party  fidelity ;  and  it  was  a  real  J03'  to  his  friends 
that  he  was  able  to  hold  office  during  all  the  vicissitudes, 
even  of  Republican  rule,  until  his  death.  I  inf.n-  from  his 
letters   and   talk,  that,   for  the   last  four  or  five  j-ears  at 

1  "  Warrington  "  was  elected  to  succeed  him. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  527 

least,  he  thought  himself  liable  to  die  at  a  moment's  ■^\arn- 
ing,  or  without  immediate  warning.  Mr.  Stowe  was  born  in 
the  same  j'ear  with  Gov.  Claflin,  Major  Momssej',  and  30m' 
correspondent. 

WILLIAM   SCHOULER. 

Gen.  Schouler's  funeral  was  attended  by  the  kind  of  people 
he  liked  and  was  associated  with  in  life,  old  political  friends, 
newspaper  men,  military  men,  and  life-long  (almost)  per- 
sonal friends,  —  Dr.  Brewer,  who  was  with  him  in  "The 
Atlas;"  Col.  Clapp  of  "The  Journal,"  one  of  his  most 
intimate  friends  of  the  last  twcnt}-  years  ;  William  Bogle, 
who  knew  him,  perhaps-,  as  well  as  or  better  than  an3body 
outside  of  his  own  famih' ;  Col.  X.  A.  Thompson,  George  B. 
Upton,  Peter  Ilarve}',  and  other  old  Boston  Whigs,  with  men 
who  had  been  with  him  in  the  adjutant-general's  office  ;  audi 
met  a  Salem  man,  Mr.  Barlow,  who  came  because  he  knew 
Schouler  in  his  boyhood  at  Lynn,  when  his  father  as  vvell  as 
himself  worked  for  a  Mr.  Hall  at  calico-printing.  The 
services  in  the  church  were  conducted  b3'  Dr.  Edson  of  St. 
Anne's  Church,  Lowell,  who  is  about  eight3'  3'ears  old,  I 
suj-)pose,  and  who  has  seen  the  entire  growth  of  Lowell  since 
it  became  a  seat  of  manufacturing  industiy ;  and  b3'  Dr. 
Iloppin,  who  was  rector  of  the  church  at  old  Cambridge 
when  Schouler  lived  at  West  Cambridge,  thirt3--iive  3-ears 
ago. 

When  I  knew  the  general  first,  in  1838  or  1830,  he  was  a 
devout  and  regular  Episcopalian ;  and  I  presume  he  was 
such  till  his  death.  A  wooden,  red-painted  factoiy,  stationed 
just  off'  the  main  road  in  West  Cambridge,  was  the  place  of 
business  where  he,  with  his  father  and  brothers,  carried  on 
calico-printing.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  Schouler  was 
inclined  to  politics,  to  the  militar3-,  to  literature,  and  to  pub- 
lic affairs,  —  a  public-spirited,  energetic,  and  popular  man, 
well  established  in  business  and  in  life.  He  used  to  delight 
in  writing  for  a  newspaper  which  I  printed  in  Concord,  prin- 
cipall3'  (as  it  turned  out)  for  the  benefit  of  the  local  politi- 


528  "WARRINGTON: " 

cians,  certainly  not  for  my  own ;  and  he  used  to  send  up 
"leaders"  which  instructed  the  voters  of  Middlesex  as  to 
the  intricacies  of  sub-treasury  problems,  the  abuses  of  the 
Van  Buren  administration,  &c.,  with  squibs  at  the  expense 
of  "  The  Concord  Freeman,"  which  I  printed,  and  got  the 
credit  of,  repaying  him  in  kind  afterward.  Pie  was  an  easy 
and  fluent  writer,  and  a  clear  one  ;  a  shrewd  and  an  honest 
politician,  and  an  effective  speaker,  perhaps  not  for  Faneuil 
Hall,  but  for  the  average  country  audience  of  that  day. 

One  of  the  most  comical  incidents  in  my  early  recollec- 
tion of  politics  occurred  in  1840,  in  the  town  of  Bolton, 
whither  Schouler,  taking  me  up  by  the  way,  had  gone  to 
speak  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day.  At  the  close  of  his 
speech,  the  chairman  of  the  town  committee  rose ;  and, 
saying  that  it  had  been  suggested  that  three  cheers  should 
be  given  for  the  "eloquent  orator,"  he  proceeded  to  put  it 
deliberately  to  vote  whether  they  should  be  given.  "All 
those  in  favor  of  giving  three  cheers,"  &c.,  "  will  say  Ay." 
There  was  no  objection  ;  and  the  chairman  then  led  off  with 
the  cheers,  which,  after  such  an  introduction,  were,  as  you 
may  suppose,  scarcely  more  than  "  sighs  of  extra  strength 
with  the  chill  on."  For  j'ears  this  Worcester-count}^  rural 
enthusiasm  was  a  recurring  anecdote  to  Schouler  wherever  I 
met  him.  He  was  full  of  stories.  The  traits  of  some  of  his 
old  Scotch  fellow-workmen  furnished  him  with  opportunities 
for  rich  conversation  and  good-hearted  mimicr}' :  he  was 
not  capable  of  ill-natured  mirthfulness,  even  under  the  temp- 
tations which  beset  a  natural-born  humorist. 

In  1842  he  bought  "The  Lowell  Courier  and  Journal," 
which,  under  various  names,  had  enjoyed  the  ministrations  of 
J.  S.  C.  Knowlton,  E.  C.  Purdy,  John  S.  Sleeper,  H.  Hast- 
ings Weld,  Daniel  S.  Richardson,  W.  0.  Bartlett,  and 
others.  He  set  out  with  ideas  which  he  could  not  fully 
carry  out,  —  a  Washington  correspondent,  for  instance.  But 
the  paper  was  a  very  effective  one.  Middlesex  Count}'  was 
in  1842  very  "unsound"  in  its  politics,  the  anti-Masonic 
coalition  having  demoralized  it  six  or  eight  years  before ; 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  529 

aud  the  LoavcII  paper  did  much  to  brhig  it  round  to  the 
"Whig  side.  He  staid  in  Lowell  through  the  Texas  crisis, 
and  till  after  Clay's  defeat.  This  last  event  completel}' 
unmanned  him ;  and  I  shall  not  soon  forget  his  forlorn  con- 
dition when  Ben  Thurston  arrived  by  horse  express  from 
Boston  at  midnight,  with  a  note  from  Isaac  Livermore, 
giving  news  that  New  York  had  "gone  for  Polk  ;  "  the  morn- 
ing news  having  prepared  everj^body  for  the  opposite  result. 
At  this  election,  the  paper  exhibited  great  zeal  in  opposing 
the  Libert}'  P^i'ty ;  and  I  remember  some  articles  furnished 
by  Edmund  Quinc}',  then  of  the  Garrison  organization, 
showing  up  Birney  and  Joshua  Leavitt  in  all  their  hideous- 
ness.  Abbott  Lawrence's  and  Nathan  Appleton's  position  on 
the  Texas  question,  and  Mr.  Winthrop's  toast,  "  Our  coun- 
try, however  bounded,"  did  not  suit  Schouler ;  and  I  remem- 
ber that  a  "slashing"  and  "crushing"  leader  (as  I  sup- 
posed), which  I  wrote  on  Abbott  Lawrence,  met  with  his 
decided  approval.  Texas  was  annexed  in  spite  of  it,  how- 
ever. 

Schouler  was  a  "Conscience  Whig"  of  1846  and  1847, 
within  the  limits  of  party  allegiance  ;  but  he  stuck  to  the 
party  in  1848,  having  a  real  faith  in  Taj'lor,  as  well  as  in  the 
party.  The  7th-of-March  speech  was  too  much  for  him, 
and  was  a  great  trial  of  his  attachment  to  Mr.  "Webster. 
Failing  to  support  "Webster  in  "The  Atlas,"  he  was  driven 
off  b}-  the  "Stop  my  paper,"  and  " Stop  my  advertisement," 
of  the  "Webster  men  of  Boston ;  and,  after  a  while,  he  went 
to  Ohio.  It  would  be  only  repetition  for  me  to  sa}-  what 
everybody  says  of  his  genuine  goodness,  and  of  the  many 
high  and  noble  qualities  of  his  character.  There  is  a  pas- 
sage by  Ruskin  which  I  call  to  mind  when  such  men  die  ;  and 
let  me  quote  it  in  concluding  what  I  have  to  say  of  this  old 
friend  and  true  man  :  "  Consider  also  whether  we  ought  not 
to  be  more  in  the  habit  of  seeking  honor  from  our  descend- 
ants than  our  ancestors,  thinking  it  better  to  he  nobly  remem- 
bered than  nobly  born. 


530  "WARRINGTON:" 

B.    P.    SHILLABER    ("MRS.    PARTINGTON")    AND    THE    CARPET- 
BAGGERS  (of  "the  carpet-bag"). 

The  death  of  "Miles  O'Reilly"  brings  to  mind  Shillaber's 
"  Carpet-Bag,"  with  which  Halpine,  who  in  1852  and  1853 
styled  himself  "Charles  Broadbent,"  was  connected  as  writer 
and  associate-editor.  I  knew  him  a  little  at  that  time,  bat 
do  not  i-emember  an^'  thing  of  his  in  "The  Carpet-Bag" 
worth  special  mention  :  indeed,  although  he  was  a  frequent 
writer  of  verse,  he  was  "  no  great  of  a  poet."  As  a  politi- 
cian, however,  he  was  lively  and  agreeable  ;  and  I  believe 
he  was  a  genuine  good  fellow.  I  know  Gov.  Andrew  was 
hugely  tickled  with  "  O'Reilly's"  account  of  the  dinner  or 
supper  in  New  York,  in  which  the  governor  was  represented 
as  entertaining  the  company  with  a  song.  His  political 
humor  was  quite  rich;  but  political  humor  is  very  common, 
and  growing  more  common.  Humorous  writing  is  quite  a 
matter  of  habit.  Once  get  the  knack  of  it,  and  you  can  go 
on  with  it  forever.  It  i.5  not  every  one,  however,  who  can 
get  the  knack. 

Among  the  carpet-baggers  of  1852,  one  of  the  best  was 
that  law3'er,  —  too  earl}'  lost,  not  less  able  than  bright,  — 
J.  Q.  A.  Griffin.  He  wrote  some  caricatures  of  the  Supreme- 
court  reports,  —  "Reports  of  Cases  argued  and  decided  in 
the  Old  Fog3'  Court,  during  Hilary  and  Michaelmas  Terms, 
before  the  Rt.  Hon.  Bepee  Dicques,  Baron  Cucumbre,  C.J., 
Hon.  Danelle  Needhame,  B.,  and  Hon.  B.  Roussiele,  J." 
The  cases  wei-e  reported  by  Azariah  Bumpas,  who,  with  true 
reporter's  dignity,  insisted  on  st3'ling  his  works  "  Bumpas' s 
Reports,"  instead  of  Groton  Reports,  as,  from  their  localit}', 
the}'  should  have  been  called.  It  was  not  difficult  for  the 
people  of  Upper  Middlesex  to  fix  upon  the  originals  of  the 
three  justices.  And  I  suppose  the  cases  Avere  not  very 
grossly- caricatured  ;  Mr.  Justice  Dix  and  Mr.  Justice  Russell, 
at  least,  being  not  over-learned  in  the  law.  Griffin's  bur- 
lesque on  the  Massachusetts  Reports  was  exquisite.  In  one 
case,  Dicques  is  represented  as  deferring  judgment,  because 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  531 

his  "  Indian  Wars,"  which  was  tlie  onl}'  book  in  his  law 
libraiy,  had  been  misplaced.  The  counsel  in  their  argu- 
ments cite  the  Biglow  Papers,  Punch,  Dr.  Gannett,  Trask's 
Sermon  on  Tobacco,  P.  B.  Brigham's  Hard  Cases,  and  so  on  ; 
and  the  Latin  and  Xoi-man-French  lingo  has  a  funny  effect. 
Occasional!}-  there  is  a  genuine  quotation  from  Metcalf's 
and  other  Massachusetts  Reports  thrown  in  verj'  comically. 
The  reports  are  not  much  more  absurd,  however,  than  those 
in  Allen  and  Gra3% 

Among  other  writers  for  ' '  The  Bag  ' '  were  Trowbridge 
(then  calling  himself  "  Paul  Crej-ton  "),  Florence  Percy,  C. 
C.  Hazewell,  John  C.  Moore  (now  of  "  The  Boston  Journal," 

—  "Peter  Snooks"),  George  Canning IIill,W.  D.  O'Connor, 
"Ethan  Spike"  (a  brother  of  John  G.  Whittier),  and  J.  II. 
A.  Bone,  who  is  now  editing  "The  Cleveland  Herald,"  and 
writing  for  the  monthly  magazines.^  Shillaber  wrote  Par- 
tingtouisms  and  Wideswarth  sonnets  ;  and  Benjamin  Drew, 
an  old  "  Boston-Post"  joker  (who  two  or  three  years  after- 
wards visited  Canada,  and  wrote  an  interesting  book  about 
the  fugitive  slaves  there),  furnished  some  humorous  articles, 

—  or  so  the}-  seemed  to  me,  — purporting  to  be  b}-  "  Dr.  E. 
Goethe  Digg."  I  recall  his  toast,  given  at  a  Fourth-of-July 
celebration :  — 

"  The  Anglo-Saxons :  They  are  the  Saxons  who  are  destined  to  dig 
the  graves  of  all  the  other  races.     They  will 

'  Live  tlu'ough  all  life,  extend  to  a  great  extent, 
Spread  undividcil,  and  operate  wherever  they  can  make  a  cent.'  " 

JUDGE    SHARKEY  THE    UN.HJST  JUDGE,   AND    ELISHA    BRAZEALLE. 

Once  upon  a  time  there  lived  in  the  County  of  Jefferson, 
State  of  Mississippi,  a  man  named  Elisha  Brazealle.  Being 
afflicted  with  a  very  loathsome  disease,  Brazealle  was  assidu- 

1  "  Warrington  "  also  contributed  some  papers  to  the  Carpet-Bag; 
one  signed  "Bailey  Junior"  (see  Appendix  E),  and  four  or  five  on 
"Ensign  Stebbinjis,"  in  whom,  as  a  candidate,  he  was  very  much  inter- 
ested. He  wrote  articles  in  his  favor  for  his  paper,  the  Lowell  Ameri- 
can, in  1852. 


532  "  WARRINGTON: " 

ouslj*  nursed  from  death's  door  back  to  life  again  by  an 
affectionate  and  faithful  female  mulatto  slave.  I  say 
"female  "  advisedl}' ;  and  I  won't  hear  or  read  any  sarcasm 
from  au}^  of  ^^our  critics  on  the  use  of  the  word.  Slaves  are 
not  women,  or  ladies :  they  are  only  females,  as  the  sequel 
of  m}-  little  story  will  show.  Brazealle,  not  altogether  de- 
praved, took  the  faithful  slave  to  Ohio,  and  showed  his 
gratitude  bj*  educating  her,  and  finally  by  marr3-ing  her.  He 
also  executed  a  deed  for  her  emancipation,  and  had  it 
recorded  both  in  Ohio  and  Mississippi ;  to  which  last-named 
State  the  couple  returned.  In  process  of  time,  the  female 
whom  Mr.  Brazealle  had  married  bore  a  son  ;  and,  in  process 
of  time,  the  planter  himself  sickened  again,  and  died  ;  taking 
care,  however,  to  leave  a  will,  in  which,  after  reciting  the 
deed  of  emancipation,  he  declared  his  intention  to  ratif}-  it^ 
and  devised  all  his  propert}^  to  the  bo}',  whom  he  acknowl- 
edged to  be  his  son.  You  see  what  a  bad  man  Brazeallf. 
was.  He  had  lived,  in  all  probability,  in  a  state  of  adulter}- ; 
and  he  had  attempted  to  circumvent  the  laws  of  Mississippi, 
and  the  genius  of  the  peculiar  institution  which  has  ruled  us 
so  long  and  so  beneficentl}'.  But  his  sin  sought  out  his  con- 
cubine, and  even  his  innocent  son,  and  punished  them  for 
his  iniquit}- ;  and  Judge  Sharkej'  was  the  instrument,  under 
Providence,  of  vindicating  morality  and  the  law.  Thus  it 
was  :  — 

Tu  North  Carolina  lived  some  poor  relations  of  Brazealle, 
of  whom  he,  heartless  infidel,  knew  nothing,  and  for  whom 
he  cared  less.  Their  names  are  not  given  in  the  record 
before  me  ;  but  I  dare  sa}'  they  are  among  the  leading  Union 
reconstructionists  under  Gov.  Holden's  regime.  They  heard 
of  the  death  of  their  rich  Mississippi  cousin,  or  what  not, 
and  forthwith,  with  a  prudent,  thrifty  spirit  which  does  them 
immortal  honor,  set  out  for  the  South-West.  They  brought  a 
suit.  It  is  known  and  read  of  all  men  in  Howard's  Missis- 
sippi Reports,  vol.  ii.  p.  837.  It  was  the  fortune  of  Shar- 
key the  good  to  adjudicate  upon  the  case.  He  declared 
the   act   of  emancipation   by  Brazealle   to  "have  had  its 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  533 

origin  in  an  offence  against  moralit}-,  pernicious  and  detesta- 
ble as  an  example  ; ' '  tliat  the  law  of  the  State  could  not  thus 
be  evaded;  and  that  "the  negroes,  John  Monroe  and  his 
mother,  are  still  slaves,  and  a  part  of  the  estate  of  Elisha 
Brazealle."  "John  Monroe,"  said  Sharkc}-  the  benefi- 
cent, "  cannot  take  the  property  as  devisee,  and  it  cannot  be 
held  in  trust  for  him."  Quite  the  contrary.  John,  instead 
of  having  property,  is  himself  property,  he  and  his  mother ; 
and,  so  holding,  Sharkey  delivered  John  and  his  mother  over 
to  the  poor  North-Carolina  relations  ;  and  they  Avere  lugged 
back  to  that  State,  unless  the}'  were  sold  in  Mississippi  to 
pa}'  the  expenses  of  the  suit.  So  was  Brazealle  the  lewd 
circumvented  by  Sharkey  the  pure  ;  so  were  the  anarchical 
contrivances  of  Brazealle  the  lawless  brought  to  nought  b}' 
the  legal  wisdom  and  the  stern  morality  of  Sharkey  the 
faithful. 

ENSIGN    STEBBINGS,  THE    POLITICAL   TRIMMER. 

[Compiled  from  "The  Lowell  American,"  with  facts  and  extracts  from 
"TheCarpet-Bag."] 

In  the  old  Stebbings  mansion,  which  still  adorns  the 
village  of  Spunkville,  and  Avhere  once  dwelt  his  grandfather, 
Septimius  Stebbings,  shielded  from  obnoxious  atmospheric 
influence,  the  juvenile  Jehiel  Stebbings  was  born.  Old 
Moloch  Stebbings,  his  father,  was  one  of  Nature's  noble- 
men ;  and  the  Bumsteads,  from  whom  tlie  ensign  is  de- 
scended maternally,  were  always  a  glorious  family.  The 
Stebbings  mansion  has  a  gambrel  roof;  and  there  is  no  per- 
ceptible underpinning.  —  as  who  should  say,  "  What  need  has 
the  family  of  Stc])bings  of  underpinning?  "  The  floors  are  of 
clear  pine,  well  sanded  :  the  kitchen  (or  living-room)  is  large, 
and  well  vcntihited  ;  and  the  side  over  the  big  oak  table  is 
nearly  covered  with  receipts,  of  which  the  following  may 
serve  as  a  specimen  :  — 

"  How  TO  MAYXvE  VK  GooDME  DouGHN-UTTics.  —  Tayke  two  egges 
layed  by  ye  heniie,  a  ciippe  and  a  halfc  (>f  suggarre,  niglie  niitoo  two 
bigge  spooiifiilles  of  butter,  a  halfc-teaspooiifulle  of  ye  soda,  one  do. 
creme  of  Tartare,  half  cuppe  of  ye  milke  of  ye  cowe,  small  lotte  of 
nutmegge,  flour  ad  libituiume.'' 


534  "  WARRING  TON: " 

.  The  front-entrj'  was  aclorned  by  a  picture  of  the  battle 
of  Bleuhehn,  done  by  the  village  painter,  and  called  a 
"Gilchrist."  Often  did  his  wondering  mother  find  Jehiel 
standing  in  silent  admiration  before  that  work  of  art,  con- 
templating the  fray  with  those  emotions  which  are  peculiar 
to  the  embrj'o  soldier.  That  picture  did  much  to  form  the 
character  of  our  presidential  nominee  ;  for,  as  he  grew  older, 
he  developed  a  great  desire  for  militarj'  gloi'J;  and  at  an 
earl}-  age  joined  the  Spunkville  Light  Infantr}'  (called  the 
S.  L.  I.'s),  and  ver}''  soon  became  their  ensign  and  com- 
mander. The  uniform  of  this  company-  was  unusual.  Among 
its  new  features  and  conveniences  it  had  a  hook  projecting 
from  a  rear  portion  of  the  pants,  to  v/hich  the  soldier  might 
hang  his  dress-boots  in  mudd}'  Aveather,  tin  dipper,  or  any 
other  light  article  of  baggage.  The  hat,  a  helmet,  sported 
an  American  eagle  of  brass,  almost  as  large  as  life,  with 
S.  L.  I.  gushing  from  its  beak.^ 

In  spite  of  his  warlike  character,  our  hero  was  kind  to  his 
wife  and  to  all  others  who  were  under  or  W'ho  belonged  to  him. 
In  speaking  of  his  v/ife,  he  said,  "  Mrs.  Ensign  Stebbings  is 
not  one  of  the  new-fangled  fools  who  wear  bloomers  ;  but 
she  wears  thirt3--five  yards  of  cloth,  honest  measure,  pinned, 
hooped,  buttoned,  or  otherwise  secured,  about  her  waist.  If 
I  am  made  President,  I  shall  encourage  domestic  manufac- 
tures bj'  compelling  the  women  to  wear  five  j-ards  more  in 
the  shape  of  a  red-and-white  striped  bunting  shawl.  Baj* 
States  !  ^  —  pooh  !  I  am  for  the  United  States." 

This  may  be  considered  a  prophetic  remark ;  for  shortly 
after  (in  18o2),  at  the  "  Convention  in  Saugus,"  he  received 
the  nomination  for  President  in  opposition  to  two  other  regu- 
lar candidates.*  This  convention  was  packed,  and  the  nom- 
'ination  was   by   acclamation  ;    for  his  friends   had  followed 

1  This  uniform  was  designed  by  Capt.  George  H.  Derby  ("John 
Phcenix"),  and,  on  account  of  the  many  conveniences  attached  to  it, 
was  called  the  Utilitarian  Uniform. 

2  Name  of  a  shawl  of  the  time. 
8  Reported  by  W.  S.  Robinson. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  535 

his  advice  given  in  a  letter  written  b}'  liim  to  the  convention, 
and  read  b}'  Brevet-Gen.  Tompion,  his  voucher.  The  letter 
reads, — 

"  I  wish  for  the  oflSce  of  President ;  and,  if  I  obtain  it,  I  shall  reward 
my  friends,  and  punish  my  enemies.  Every  member  of  the  Saugus 
Convention  wlio  votes  for  me  shall  receive  either  a  post-office,  or  a 
place  in  the  collection  of  customs,  I  would  advise  that  you  refuse  a 
seat  iu  the  convention  to  every  man  who  is  not  enrolled  either  in  the 
army  or  navy  of  the  United  States. 

"Tours  strategically, 

**  Ensign  Stebbings." 

This  letter  was  received  with  enthusiastic  cheers,  and  it 
was 

"  Voted,  That  we  agree  to  exclude  all  persons  who  are  not  enrolled 
according  to  the  advice  in  the  above  letter." 

And 

"  Betiohcd,  That  we  go  it  blind  for  Ensign  Jehiel  Stebbings." 

The  following  platform  was  then  adopted  without  a  dis- 
senting voice :  — 

AuTiCLE  1.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  that  which 
constitutes. 

2.  The  army  and  navy  constitute  us  a  free  people :  therefore,  — 

3.  The  array  and  the  navy  are  the  Constitution. 

4.  The  President  swears  to  support  the  Constitution,  —  i.e.,  the 
army  and  navy :  therefore,  to  do  so  understandingly,  the  President 
ought  to  be  a  military  man. 

5.  Ensign  Jehiel  Stebbings  is  a  military  man:  it  follows  that  he 
ought  to  be  and  must  be  President. 

6.  Executive  patronage  is  a  power  to  be  used  only  for  a  wise  pur- 
pose: to  do  this  requires  a  wise  man.  Ensign  Stebbings  is  a  wise 
man,  therefore  ought  to  wield  executive  patronage;  in  other  words, 
he  must  be  President.  In  fact,  from  whatever  point  we  start,  we  are 
driven  to  the  same  conclusion  irresistibly. 

7.  It  is  of  no  use  to  oppose  the  irresistible.  All  other  candidates 
should,  of  course,  witlidi-aw  from  the  contest. 

8.  Governments  are  maintained  by  rewards  and  punishments ;  our 
government  ought  to  bo  maintained:  therefore  Ensign  Stebbings  will 
reward  his  friends,  and  punish  his  enemies. 

14.  Ensign  Stebbings  —  he  must  be  elected. 

The  convention  adjourned  harmoniously-,  and  the  ensign- 


536  "WARRINGTON:" 

went  home  to  receive  the  cougratulations  of  his  fellow-towns- 
men. At  the  ratification  meeting  held  in  Spunkville  he 
made  a  speech  of  acceptance,  in  which  he  said,  "  Here, 
wrapped  about  m}-  left  arm,  j'ou  see  the  flag  which  I  bore, 
and  as  I  bore  it  from  the  Alamo,  and  as  I  flashed  it  in  the 
ej-es  of  the  British  soldiers  at  the  Aroostook"  (he  had  been 
twitted  with  running  from  the  enem_y's  wooden  guns).  "If 
this  is  not  enough  to  qualify  a  man  to  become  President  of  a 
gi'eat,  free,  warlike,  and  iudej)endent  nation,  I  would  like  to 
know  what  is."  (Applause.)  "  I  have  heard  of  Ptchoula, 
and  I  have  heard  of  Kussia  leather,  and  law  calf;  but,  gentle- 
men, I  am  of  opinion  that  the  smell  of  gunpowder  is  the  true 
presidential  perfume.  Gentlemen,  in  j'our  resolution  on  the 
tariff,  there  should  have  been  this  proviso :  Provided,  how- 
ever, that  we  are  in  favor  of  admitting  free  of  duty  all  the 
munitions,  implements,  pomps,  and  circumstances  of  glori- 
ous war,  such  as  tent-pins,  haversacks,  canteens,  brand}', 
spades,  blunderbusses,  omnibuses,  and  other  materials  for 
barricades,  drag-ropes,  pipe-cla}',  feathers,  and  over  sixty 
other  similar  munitions,  ending  with  wooden  legs  and  surgi- 
cal iustruments."  (A  voice  in  the  crowd,  "  Go  it,  Stebbings  ! 
that  stamps  your  availabilit}'  with  the  American  people.") 

"  Available  or  not,  ni}'  opinion  is  that  military'  glorj'  is 
the  only  true  national  glorj*.  Ever}'  man,"  he  then  resumed, 
"  who  is  a  member  of  au}'  military'  company',  shall  have  a 
free  pass  over  all  the  railroads  in  the  Union,  whether  in  time 
of  peace  or  war ;  and  military  stores  and  arm}'  material  shall 
be  transported  gratuitousl}'."  (Applause  from  the  soldiers.) 
"•  I  am  in  favor  of  high  tariff  upon  all  articles  except  muni- 
tions of  war.  I  go  for  cheap  postage,  roast  beef,  and  two 
dollars  a  da}'.  Where  I  put  my  foot,  there  I  stand.  I  repre- 
sent a  principle  ;  and  that  princii^le  is  bound  to  triumph. 
The  india-rubbers  of  Civilization  are  always  stained  with 
human  gore ;  for,  from  the  earliest  conflict  until  now,  the 
footsteps  of  her  progress  through  the  ages  have  been  from 
the  battle-fields  of  one  generation  to  the  battle-fields  of  the 
next.     I  offer  myself,  then,  for  the  suffrages  of  the  people." 


i 


PEN-P  OR  TRAITS.  537 

During  the  campaign,  newspapers  like  "  Tlie  Lowell 
American,"  "Clinton  Courant  "  (Ed v/in  Banner,  editor), 
and  "The  Carpet-Bag, "  that  were  not  the  organs  of  the  reg- 
ular candidates,  supported  the  ensign's  claims  to  tlie  presi- 
denc)' ;  and  the}'  printed  column  after  column  of  "  Opinions 
of  the  Press"  to  show  the  feeling  of  the  people  in  other 
States. 

"The  Carpet-Bag"  published  an  article,  in  which  the 
writer  made  a  calculation,  showing  how  many  electoral  votes 
the  ensign  would  receive.  "We  select  the  following  extract. 
It  was  called 

THE   GAME    OF   BRAG. 

"  The  election  of  Scott  or  Pierce  being  demonstrated  to  be  impos- 
sible, it  follows,  of  course,  that  Stebbings  must  be  chosen.  But  we 
shall  not  stop  here.  We  have  a  calculation  of  our  own,  favorable  to 
Stebbings,  which  must  satisfy  the  last  remaining  doiibtcr  in  the  land. 
Perhaps  it  will  be  surprising  to  some,  that,  in  this  calculation,  we 
claim  a  large  number  of  votes  for  Stebbings  in  Minnesota,  Utah, 
New  Mexico,  Nebraska,  Cuba,  Nicaragua,  and  Patagonia.  But  it  is 
time  now  to  develop  the  plan  of  operations,  which  must  come  out 
very  soon. 

'^Etisign  Stebbings  is  nhout  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  an  expedi- 
tion, v:hich  loill  probahbj,  before  November,  result  in  the  annexation  of 
all  these  rejions  to  the  United  States,  in  safety  under  the  folds  of  the 
star-spawjled  banner.    Lowj  may  it  wave ! 

"The  expedition  to  capture  Buffalo  Bay  will  not,  probably,  be 
sufficiently  matured  before  next  spring.  We  speak  with  caution.  We 
say  'probably,'  because  it  is  not  certain  that  these  new  States  will  be 
entitled  to  vote  in  November.  We  have  placed  them  under  the  head 
of  'Doubtful  for  Stebbings.'  We  mean  to  be  careful  to  avoid  the 
vainUing  tone  which  our  enemies  use,  and  which  fills  us  with  great 
disgust. 

*'  We  shall  now  proceed  to  speak  of  a  few  States  which  some  of  the 
other  parties  j)retend  to  claim,  and  we  shall  show  that  Stebbings  is 
the  only  individual  who  has  any  ohan«:e  of  carrying  them. 

"  MAssAcnusETTs.  —  As  Stebbings  gets  the  extreme  South,  so  he 
sweeps  through  the  extreme  North.  It  may  be  sai<l  of  him,  that  he 
knows  no  north,  no  south,  no  east,  ivo  west,  no  nothing. 

"New  IIampsuike.  —  We  candidly  admit  that  Pierce  will  make  a 
good  run  in  his  own  State;  but  Peter  Snooks,  who,  after  leaving  the 
Massachusetts  legislature,  w;vs  immediately  chosen  a  member  of  the 
New-llainp>hire  House  of  Representatives,  gives  it  as  his  opioioa 
that  Stebbings  has  the  best  chance. 


538  "WARRINGTON:" 

"  Souxn  Caeoltxa  is  a  State  very  hard  to  please ;  but  the  well- 
known  senthnents  of  Stebbings  on  the  Cuba  question  will  make  him 
sure  of  the  vote  of  that  State. 

"Wiscoxsix. — The  German  vote  is  sure  for  Stebbings.  In  his 
letter  to  the  'Sonderbuudholl-Verein,'  the  ensign  states  that  he  can 
play  on  the  German  flute,  and  is  very  fond  of  Bologna  sausages ;  which 
facts  show  that  he  is  interested  in  foreign  matters. 

"Georgia  always  votes  for  the  successful  candidate;  of  course, 
she  is  safe  for  Stebbings.  Toombs  are  prepared  for  both  the  old  cor- 
rupt organizations. 

"  Maixe.  — The  ensign's  letter  to  the  Mayor  of  Saccarap,  on  the 
Liquor  Law,  has  made  him  immensely  popular  in  Maine.     He  says, 

'  I  AM  IX  FAVOR  OF  THE  LAW,  AND   OPPOSED  TO   ITS  BEING  PUT  IN 

FORCE.'  1  Of  course,  he  gets  the  support  of  both  sections ;  the  era  of 
good  feeling  will  return;  the  unbappy  liquor-question  will  be  compro- 
mised ;  and  Maine  will  help  elect  a  chief  magistrate  whose  Aroostook 
history  will  prevent  any  Blue-nose  aggressions  for  half  a  century. 
Enough,  and  more  than  enough.  Votes  are  the  weapons  which  do 
the  business ;  and  Stebbings  has  the  votes.  We  wait  with  serene  con- 
fidence the  great  result." 

Besides  being  the  great  militar}^  candidate,  it  was  claimed 
for  him  that  he  was  also  the  great  agricultural  candidate  ;  and 
the  farming  interest  was  called  upon  to  support  him,  because, 
for  the  last  ten  j-ears,  he  had  annuallj*  received  the  premium 
for  the  best  fat  ox  in  the  count}'  cattle-show,  and  that  he 
first  introduced  the  Borneo  waddlers  to  the  poultr3--breeders 
of  Spunkville.     He  had   the  earliest  potatoes,  the  biggest 

1  In  1852  I  was  a  good  deal  interested  in  the  canvass  for  President, 
going  in  strongly  for  Ensign  Stebbings;  and  I  made  a  calculation  for 
the  Carpet-Bag,  which  was  his  organ,  showing  that  he  would  receive 
something  more  than  twenty  thousand  electoral  votes,  —  not  mere  popu- 
lar votes,  of  which  a  man  may  receive  half  a  million,  and  yet  have  no 
good  from  them.  He  was  going  to  receive  the  vote  of  Maine  on  the 
strength  of  his  letter  to  the  Mayor  of  Saccarap,  declaring  himself  to  be 
m  favor  of  the  Maine  Law,  and  against  its  enforcement,  and  so  on.  I 
mention  this  here,  that  the  standing  joke  of  Stebbings  and  the  Maine 
Law,  which  is  now  used  pretty  often  in  the  newspapers,  is  "my  thun- 
der." "A  poor  thing,  but  my  own,"  as  Touchstone  says  of  Audrey. 
Kow,  it  turned  out  that  Stebbings  got  no  votes.  "SVhat  was  a  feeble  at- 
tempt at  waggery  in  1852  was  deadly  earnest  in  ISfiO.  His  oft-quoted 
remark,  "that  he  was  in  favor  of  the  ISIaine  (Liquor)  Law,  but  opposed 
to  its  being  put  in  force,"  perfectly  illustrates  the  character  of  all 
political  trimmers. —  W.  S.  R.  in  1869. 


I 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  539 

turnips,  the  heaviest  wheat,  the  jellowest  can'ots,  and  the 
smallest  mustard,  of  any  man  in  New  England  ;  and  his 
"deep  phalanx  of  embattled  corn"  excited  the  admiration 
of  everybod}-.  He  was  engaged  at  this  time  in  the  manu- 
facture of  tomato-ketchup :  hence  the  fling  of  his  opposers, 
who  called  him  The  Tomato- Ketchup  candidate.  He  was 
great  at  cattle-shows,  and  made  speeches  at  all  the  agricultu- 
ral dinners,  and  paraded  his  militar}-  and  other  achievements. 
There  was  not  a  schoolhouse  or  a  pig-pen  built  in  the  neigh- 
borhood but  he  was  at  the  "  raising,"  and  showed  himself  to 
his  constituents. 

Stories  were  in  circulation  about  this  great  statesman  and 
hero, — of  how  he  helped  a  poor  widow  to  win  her  case  (she 
had  sons  who  could  vote  for  him).,  and  gave  hundreds  of 
cents  to  colored  women  (v»-ho  had  husbands,  voters)  for  their 
children,  and  so  made  himself  popular  with  the  people.  His 
picture  was  taken  for  circulation  (in  "  The  Carpet-Bag  ")  ;  a 
sword  was  presented  to  him  (which  beat  the  brand  Excalibur 
all  to  flitters),  called  the  "  Stebbings  sword;"  and  a  ship 
was  launched,  and  named  I)y  him  "  The  Jehiel  Stebbings." 
Political  clubs  were  organized.  From  "The  Lowell  Ameri- 
can" we  cop3'  an  account  of  the 

SIIABBAKIX    STEUBINGS    CLUB. 

"There  is  now  a  good  dcgioe  of  unanimity  prevailing  in  tlie  club. 
Headquarters  have  been  establislied,  a  flag  thrown  out;  and  'The 
Carpet-Bag'  and  other  publishers  <>f  papers  have  been  written  to,  to 
supply  the  club  gratis  with  their  valuable  sheets.  Tlie  last  meeting 
was  very  enthusiastic.  The  managing  committee  presented  the  fol- 
lowing names  as  honorary  members,  and  tliey  were  unanimously 
accepted:  Hon.  Jethro  Hitchcock  of  Squam;  Hon.  Gad  Bulger  of 
Squam;  Hon.  Abraham  Lot  of  Hardscrabble ;  Gabriel  Pinchbeck, 
Esq.,  Calf  Hollow;  Peter  B.  Funk,  Esq.,  Beg  Sodus  Bay;  Jajnes  B. 
X.  L.  Y.  Smithers,  Esq.,  Donnowhere;  Hon.  Peleg  Porcival  Polk, 
Punkinville;  Hon.  Eldad  W.  Mruppins,  Poplar  Hill;  Cain  Webster 
Burke,  Esq.,  Shabbakin ;  Alonzo  George  Milksop,  Esq.,  Thunder- 
borough;  B.  Franklin  Muggins,  Spunkville;  Jkiiiel  SxiinBixos, 
Spunkville;  Cornet  Wiggin,  Spunkville;  Deacon  Israel  Mawworra, 
Pulpitville;  Capt.  Boanerges  Bashaw,  Misery  X  Koads;  Col.  Asher 
P.  Fliniflaw,  Four  Corners;  Porpoise  T.  Walrus,  Esq.,  Shabbakin; 


540  "WARRINGTON:" 

Beerbarrel  Skid,  Esq.,  Grocerville;  Card  G.  Stripper,  Esq.,  Cotton- 
town;  Capt.  Eli  Herringbone,  Oyster  Bay;  Richelieu  O'Flannegan, 
Ballybogusville ;  Diebitsch  Von  Raunier  Poniatowski,  LL.D.,  Baden- 
Baden  ;  Dr.  Esculapius  Pestle,  Thoroughwort  Corner. 

"It  will  be  seen  that  all  classes  are  here  represented,  natives  and 
foreigners,  lawyers,  deacons,  doctors,  farmers,  and  mechanics.  All 
sections  are  also  honored;  for,  as  'The  Carpet  Bag'  patriotically 
remarks,  Stebbings  '  knows  no  north,  no  south,  no  east,  no  west,  no 
nothing.'  After  this  important,  weighty,  tremendous,  ponderous,  and 
awful  business  was  completed,  several  speeches  were  made,  of  which 
a  full  report  may  be  found  in  the  daily  organ  of  the  Shabbakin  Steb- 
bingsonians.  The  cause  is  onward,  and  the  cheering  is  tremendous ! 
Skies  bright!    Nine  million  cheers  for  the  nomernees!    Whooray!" 

It  was  at  this  meeting  that  the  celebrated  toast  or  senti- 
ment Avas  offered  by  the  Hon.  Eldad  W.  Mruppins  of  Poplar 
Hill,  Dedham:  "To  that  gorgeous  ensign  of  our  republic, 
Ensign  Stebbings !  " 

Estimates  of  his  political  strength  were  taken  in  various 
towns  and  states,  and  sent  to  "The  Carpet-Bag."  One 
from  Owl  Hollow,  Ind.,  reads  as  follows  :  — 

"  Mr.  Editor,  — At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  this  place  at  the 
post-office  yesterday  eve,  a  vote  was  taken  for  President,  the  result 
of  which  is  as  follows :  — 

Stebbings 2 

Scott 1 

Douglas 0 

Majority  for  Stebbings 1 

"  G.  Washington  Gawkins,  P.M." 

But,  in  spite  of  the  promises  and  efforts  of  his  friends,  there 
was  a  great  falling-off  of  voting-force  as  election  drew  near. 
His  teachings  went  against  him  ;  and  his  doctrines,  as  in  the 
case  of  Socrates  and  other  eminent  men,  killed  him :  for  his 
pretended  supporters  carried  the  principle  advocated  in  his 
famous  saying  about  the  Maine  Liquor  Law  to  the  ballot-box  ; 
and,  while  believing  in  him  as  a  candidate,  the}-  voted  directlj' 
for  his  opponent ;  and  the  great  Stebbings  got  absolutcl}-  no 
votes.  He,  however,  had  found  out  in  season  how  the  thing 
was  turning,  and,  a  few  days  before  election,  sent  a  despatch 


PEJV-POnTRAITS.  541 

to  his  friends  through  "The  Lowell  American,"  defining 
his  position.  We  copy  the  despatch  and  the  editor's  com- 
ments. 

Spunkville,  Nov.  1, 11.10  p.m. 
To  MI  Fkends,  —  This  ere  is  to  giv  notis  that  i  am  not  a  candy- 
date  for  the  oflfiss  of  President.    Yougli  are  all  advysed  to  vought  for 
Purse,  lioo  has  promised  to  turn  out  old  Scott  and  put  me  in  Kom- 
mander  in  Cheef.  Jehiel  Stebbi>-gs,  Ensijn. 

This  despatch  was  forthwith  sent  upon  the  vcr}-  swiftest 
streaks  of  lightning  to  all  parts  of  this  universal  nation  ; 
and  it  is  a  remarkable  triumph  of  the  Spunkville,  &c.,  Tele- 
graph Company,  that  not  a  Stebbings  man  in  any  State  in 
the  Union,  except  a  fe^y  in  the  comparatively-  thinly-peopled 
States  of  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
failed  to  receive  the  intelligence.  The  knowledge  that  this 
despatch  was  about  to  be  sent  will  account  for  the  confidence 
which  was  felt  hy  "Purse"  and  his  intimate  friends  in  the 
result.  "  Jack  Hail  and  his  cru,"  remarked  the  ensign 
subsequently,  "thort  the}-  hild  the  ballunses  of  power  ;  but  I 
gess  the  ballunses  was  in  stiddier  hands  than  thairn."  TVe 
guess  so  too. 

This  statement  of  facts  will  account  for  the  non-election 
of  Stebbings,  and  the  triumphant  election  of  Pierce,  and  will 
put  to  shame  those  editors,  pretending  to  be  friends  of  the 
illustrious  and  magnanimous  old  chief,  who  have  reported 
that  he  has  resigned  himself  to  "mute  despair."  No  such 
thing !  Jehiel  Stebbings  will  be  the  back-bone,  right-arm, 
eye-tooth,  sword,  spurs,  and  Paixhan  cannon  of  the  new  ad- 
ministration. Let  his  enemies,  and  the  enemies  of  Pierce, 
beware ! 

[Nov.  27,  1875.] 
HEJfRT  WILSON. 

The  estimates  made  of  the  late  Vice-President's  character 
have  been  singularly  accurate  generall}-,  although  there  liave 
been  occasional  errors  as  to  fact  and  date.  Perhaps  it  is 
fair  to  say,  that  the  biographical  sketches  have  been  more 


542  "  WARRING  TON: " 

truthful  than  accurate.  For  instance,  when  it  is  said  that 
Wilson  was  the  founder  of  the  Republican  part}',  a  queer  mis- 
take is  made  ;  for  he  did  not  even  vote  with  that  part}'  till 
1856,  — two  years  after  it  was  founded  :  yet,  for  all  that,  he 
was  so  linked  with  the  measures,  and  so  associated  with  the 
men  and  ideas,  that  he  may  be  fairly  called  one  of  the  princi- 
pal founders.  These  foundations  of  parties  are  more  apt  to 
be  the  work  of  the  men  who  nominally  sen^e  in  the  ranks 
than  of  the  more  prominent  men. 

They  will  show  you  in  Jackson,  Mich.,  a  court-house  or 
town-house,  where  the}-  say  the  first  Republican  meeting  was 
held,  and  the  name  first  formally  given.  But  these  events 
were  nearly  simultaneous.  The  Statg  organization  here  was 
in  1854  :  but  "Wilson  was  in  the  Know-Nothing  party,  and,  a 
year  later,  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
by  that  party  ;  his  chief  competitors  being  E.  M.  Wright 
(in  the  Senate)  and  N.  B.  Bryant  (in  the  House) ,  —  men  of 
the  obscure  sort,  who  in  that  party  would  be  sure  to  be 
talked  of,  but  who  would  not  have  been  mentioned  at  all  in 
a  large  party  in  this  State,  based  in  any  degree  on  anti- 
slavery  principles.  Wilson  had  21  votes,  just  a  majority  of 
the  Senate,  and  about  230,  I  believe,  in  the  House.  He 
further  identified  himself  with  the  party  by  attending  a 
supper  in  honor  of  Gardner's  election,  and  by  a.  letter  to 
Robert  B.  Hall,  written  for  the  average  Know-Nothing,  to 
show  to  his  constituents  as  evidence  that  the  new  senator 
was  all  right.  In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  Wilson  had  in 
view  the  formation  of  a  new  national  organization  in  1856. 
How  it  was  to  come  he  didn't  probably  know  nor  care. 

In  the  fall  of  1855  ho  supported  Rockwell,  and  made  a 
speech  at  Brattleborough,  Vt.,  denouncing  the  Know-Noth- 
ings  in  advance  for  any  attempted  defection  from  antislavery 
principles.  He  told  C.  W.  Dennison,  and  doubtless  a  hun- 
dred others,  that  he  would  "blow  their  party  to  hell"  if 
they  showed  any  sign  of  such  defection.  In  fact,  he  was 
more  sensitive  on  this  point  than  any  others,  where  he,  for 
expediency's  sake,  deflected  from  correct  action  and  prin- 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  543 

ciple.  And  this  indicates,  what  is  most  true,  that  these 
deflections  were  extremely  few.  Mr.  S.  C.  Phillips,  Mr. 
C.  F.  Adams,  and  J.  G.  Palfrey-,  thought  "•  the  coalition,"  or 
at  least  some  of  the  movements  attending  it,  indispensable  ; 
but  it  seems  to  me  opinions  miglit  fairl}'  differ  on  this  point. 
Defensible  or  not,  it  was  inevitable. 

In  1848  and  1849  the  votes  had  shown  that  the  Whigs 
were  in  a  minority  in  the  State ;  that  the  legislature  could 
be  carried  against  them,  and  the  offices  thereafter  divided. 
The  delegates  to  the  count}'  conventions  saw  this,  and — 
though  not  without  difficulties,  and  with  frequent  going-out 
and  coming-in  of  conference  committees  —  arranged  the 
details  for  electing  a  majority  of  the  legislature.  At  this 
time,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Democrats  had  not 
been  in  office  in  the  State  since  Morton's  day,  and  that 
Morton  was  a  liberal,  and  also  that  they  were  out  of  power 
in  national  affairs.  Boutwell,  their  candidate  for  governor, 
was  neither  for  nor  against  the  abolitionists,  but  was  a  strict 
party-man,  as  always,  and  held  his  party  together  very  well. 
Sumner  was  chosen  senator ;  and  in  this  work  Wilson  took 
a  leading  part;  Mr.  S.  C.  Phillips,  Mr.  Adams,  and  J.  G. 
Palfre}',  for  various  reasons,  taking  small  part  in  it,  though 
not  (as  ex-Gov.  Morton  did)  breaking  out  in  rebellion 
during  the  contest.  Wilson  did  not  flinch  from  the  coali- 
tion, or  from  its  consequences.  He  wrote  a  letter,  which  is 
extant  and  in  print,  giving  all  the  details  as  to  the  green- 
room events,  —  who  was  to  have  all  the  councillors,  and  all 
that  sort  of  thing ;  and,  furthermore,  it  was  eas}-  at  the  State 
House  to  make  it  ap[)ear  that  the  two  branches  had,  or  could 
persuade  themselves  that  they  had,  certain  views  on  legis- 
lation in  common,  —  such  as,  for  example,  Mr.  Whitney's 
General  Banking  Law,  the  Secret  Ballot  Act,  «S:c.  Pierce 
was  chosen  President  in  1852  ;  and  it  became  then  more  difll- 
cult  to  keep  the  two  parties  together,  although  Pierce  before 
or  after  his  election,  or  both,  talked  about  antislavery.  Mr. 
Philander  Ames,  then  of  Charlestown,  told  me  that  he  was 
called  in  with  other  Democrats  to  see  Pierce,  who,  before  the 


544  "WARRINGTON: " 

meeting  broke  up,  laid  his  hand  affectionatel}-  on  Mr.  Ames's 
shoulder,  and  said,  "  If  I  am  elected,  Mr.  Ames,  the  South 
mil  find  out  that  there  is  a  North." 

The  Constitutional  Convention  of  1853  was  harmonious  as 
between  the  two  wings  ;  but  its  work,  the  amended  Constitu- 
tion, was  defeated  at  the  polls.  On  this  question  the  detes- 
table element  of  religious  strife  was  lugged  in,  without  an}' 
better  reasons  than  the  Republican  party  has  for  lugging 
it  in  (through  Grant's  speech  at  Des  Moines,  and  in  Ohio 
for  the  defeat  of  Allen).  The  secret  societies  began  to 
spread.  "Wilson,  a  politician  with  nothing  to  do,  and  a 
sincere  desire  to  break  and  build,  favored  it ;  Burlingame 
helped  him,  with  manj'  of  the  3'oung  stump-orators ;  Banks 
was  a  little  later ;  Gardner  was  nominated  without  much 
forethought,  probably' ;  and  the  result  was  a  large  Know- 
Nothing  majority  in  1854  in  the  State,  a  disgusting  legis- 
lature, and,  in  1855,  an  earl}^  protest  in  the  shape  of 
Rockwell's  nomination.  It  will  easily  be  seen  how  Wilson 
got  into  this,  and  how  he  got  out,  and  how  glad  he  was  to 
get  out. 

Mr.  Wilson's  character  and  history  and  manners  show 
that  he  had  as  little  s^'mpathy  with  axvy  religious  opposition 
to  any  class,  or  with  opposition  to  any  class  on  the  ground 
of  birth  or  any  other  accident,  as  anj-  man  could  have,  —  as 
little  as  Andrew,  who  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  ideal 
democrat,  and  more  than  that ;  for  he  seemed  actuallj'  to 
love  the  poor,  the  outcast,  the  black  (especiall}-) ,  and  all 
men  who,  for  whatever  reason,  were  under  society's  ban. 
"Wilson  had  not  this  (possibly  because  it  requires  humor)  ; 
but  he  was  in  all  respects  a  democrat.  This  led  him,  ever 
after  1855,  not  only  to  renounce  the  Know-No  things,  but 
ever}'  thing  belonging  to  them.  He  opposed  the  ' '  Two-3'ears' 
Amendment,"  debating  the  question  with  Amasa  Walker, 
and  going  against  the  whole  Boston  press,  or  nearly  all  of  it, 
and  (as  it  turned  out)  the  popular  vote.  I  dare  say  he  was 
stimulated  to  this  by  the  protests  of  the  Iowa  Republicans 
and  others.     At  this  time  (1859)  Carl  Schurz  made  his  first 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  545 

visit  here  ;  and  there  was  a  revival  of  Jeffersonian  politics  at 
the  Jefferson  dinner,  with  Boutwell  for  presiding  officer,  to 
which  Abraham  Lincoln  wrote  a  famous  letter,  showing  that 
he,  too,  was  a  democrat  in  the  primeval  sense. ^ 

"Wilson  had  a  respect  for  learning,  a  love  of  information, 
a  deference  for  the  college  degree,  and  the  other  evidence 
(whether  in  sheepskin  diploma,  or  in  clerical  or  judicial 
costume)  of  contact  with  the  college  gatewaj's  ;  but  he  could 
be  nothing  but  a  democrat ;  and  his  sneer  at  tlie  snob,  Amer- 
ican or  English,  was  something  exquisite.  Sumner's  democ- 
rac}',  more  genuine  in  some  respects  than  "Wilson's,  was 
based  on  a  love  of  justice  and  equalitj-,  and  a  determination 
to  have  them,  and,  in  this  respect,  was  a  more  difficult  ac- 
quirement than  Wilson's.  Satisf}-  Sumner  that  justice  and 
equality  were  in  one  path,  and  all  else  political  or  legislative 
•in  the  other,  and  he  took  the  right  side,  and  never  seemed 
to  imagine  there  was  an}-  possibilitj-  of  his  taking  the  other. 
He  was  apt  to  finish  up  one  thing  before  he  took  the  next. 
But  while  Wilson  (at  some  risk)  was  supporting  the  "  Amer- 
ican "  party,  Sumner  was  on  the  stump,  denouncing  it,  and, 
a  year  or  two  before  his  death,  had  accepted  the  doctrine  of 
equality  for  woman  in  suffrage ;  though,  not  being  a  man  in 
search  of  platforms,  and  averse  to  speech-making  without 
preparation,  he  felt  no  call  to  make  proof  of  his  lielief  by 
stepping  up  and  taking  a  seat,  as  so  man}'  do  who  never 
intend  to  do  aught  but  stand  up  once  a  year  to  be  counted. 

Of  "Wilson's  immense  amount  of  labor  in  the  great  work 
of  his  life,  it  is  unnecessar}'  to  speak  ;  and  whether  it  was  a 
little  greater  or  a  little  less  than  that  of  other  men  seems 
unimportant,  and,  at  any  rate,  must  be  settled  b}-  ever}-  intel- 
ligent antislavery  man  for  himself. 

[Lowell  American,  Nov.  1,  1852.] 
DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Webster  made  a  great  impression  upon 
the  country.     There  were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  better 

1  See  Appendix  F. 


546  "WARRINGTON:" 

men  in  it,  and  many  of  our  distinguished  men  have  had 
more  attached  and  warmer  friends  ;  but  there  was  no  man 
who  so  attracted  public  admiration  by  his  massive  intellect 
and  commanding  presence.  "We  fear  it  must  be  said  of  him 
what  Carl^-le  says  of  Mirabeau,  "  Moralities  not  a  few  must 
shi'iek  condemnatory  over  this  Mirabeau."  Perhaps  "the 
moralit}'  by  which  he  could  be  judged  has  not  yet  got  uttered 
in  the  speech  of  men."  Yet  men's  admiration  for  his  mas- 
terly mind  leads  the  whole  country  to  sorrow  for  his  death 
as  the  death  of  its  greatest  man.  This  is  well.  The  last 
three  years  of  Mr.  Webster's  political  life  were  filled  with 
events,  which,  unless  the  New-England  conscience  is  wholly 
corrupted  by  the  lust  of  gain,  must  detract  largely  from  the 
estimation  in  which  he  would  otherwise  be  held.  Criticism 
will  not  be  silenced,  and  history'  will  give  him  his  true  place. 
But  all  men  can  afford  to  wait  for  the  verdict.  The  great 
statesman  and  the  eloquent  orator  sleeps  at  Marshfield,  near 
the  ' '  sounding  sea  :  "  — 

"  Timon  hath  made  his  everlasting  mansion 
Upon  the  beached  verge  of  the  salt  flood, 
Which  once  a  day  with  his  embossed  froth 
The  turbulent  surge  shall  cover." 


'PEN-PORTRAITS.  547 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  WOMAN   QUESTION 

[1861-1876.] 

"  The  woman's  hour  is  struck,  or  is  striking.  The  woman-suffrage  question 
entirely  supersedes  in  popular  interest  the  old  antislavery  question.  The  negro 
is  no  better  than  anybody  else,  at  present :  he  has  had  his  day.  Enter  woman."  — 
Wabkixgton. 

woman's  rights.^ 

Everybody  knows  that  women  are  shut,  out  from  the  col- 
leges where  the  highest  education  is  sought ;  and  it  makes 
no  difference  whether  the}'  are  debarred  by  law  or  b}'  custom, 
so  long  as  they  are  under  the  ban  of  exclusion.  It  is  cer- 
tainl}-  a  queer  idea,  that  woman  ought  to  be  satisfied  with 
acquiring  knowledge,  without  having  an  opportunity  to  put  it 
in  pi'actice,  except  in  her  own  affairs.  She  can  learn  chem- 
istry, and  may  be  profoundly  skilled  in  that  art ;  but  her 
knowledge  must  be  used  in  household  occupations,  and  not 
made  available  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  where  man  is 
allowed  to  become  eminent  and  acquire  wealth.  This  very 
fact,  that  woman  cannot  put  her  learning  into  practice,  is 
one  of  the  grievances  she  has  to  complain  of. 

For  our  part,  we  suppose  that  the  Almighty  designed  that 
both  man  and  woman  should  have  the  highest  intellectual 
and  moral  culture  of  which  the}'  arc  capable.  Who  set  up 
any  man  as  a  judge  of  what  is  woman's  sphere,  or  of  what 
the  Almighty  Maker  designed  her  to  be  ? 

1  Lowell  American,  in  1851. 


548'  "  WARRINGTON:  '*- 

WOMAN-SUFFRAGE   A   RIGHT. 

Mr.  English  of  Hartford  said  that  wives  ought  to  talk 
politics ;  for,  if  thej  did  not,  their  husbands  would  find 
women  who  did.  To  talk  politics  at  home  was,  not  to  make 
home  a  scene  of  discord,  but  of  interest  and  harmon}-.  A 
point  well  taken.  I  heard  a  woman  sa}',  that  if  the  women 
were  not  before  long  allowed,  or  in  some  Ava}-  induced,  to 
take  an  interest  in  public  affairs,  thej'  would  ruin  their  hus- 
bands and  the  country  b}'  their  fashionable  extravagance, 
the}-  having  nothing  else  to  think  of,  and  being  obliged  to 
think  of  something  (which  is  another  point  well  taken) .  On 
the  general  ground,  then,  that  the  state  will  be  the  better 
for  the  co-operation  of  woman,  as  the  church,  the  lyceum, 
the  school,  art,  literature,  religion,  are  better,  this  move- 
ment is  to  be  defended.  We  have  had  enough  of  reply  to 
the  Dr.  Todds,  and  Dr.  Hollands,  and  Rev.  Fultons.  The 
Bible  argument,  if  there  is  one,  impresses  nobody  now ; 
for  a  large  share  of  the  people  don't  accept  the  Bible  at  all 
as  a  guide  in  such  matters,  denj-ing  its  authorit}-,  or  its 
inspiration,  or  its  applicabilit}'  to  our  own  times,  or,  in  some 
other  way,  getting  round  it :  and  the  whole  batch  of  anti- 
female-suffrage  fallacies  has  been  knocked  in  the  head  so 
manj'  times,  that  even  the  D.D's,  or  most  of  them,  are  now 
ashamed  to  reproduce  them.  St.  Paul,  it  ma}'  be  conceded, 
was  a  great  theologian  and  moralist,  and  Tennyson  a  great 
poet ;  but  it  is  of  not  much  more  use  to  quote  either  of  them 
against  the  rights  of  woman  than  the  Pittsfield  doctor  of 
divinit}-.  To  the  argument  for  woman-suffrage  there  is  no 
valid  reply  by  anj-body. 

What  reason  is  there  for  believing  that  political  meetings 
would  be  any  more  detrimental  to  good  morals,  or  a  healthful 
state  of  society,  than  any  other  gatherings  — social,  educa- 
tional, religious  —  to  which  both  sexes  are  invited  ?  Wh}', 
one  would  think,  to  hear  some  of  the  speeches  and  lectures 
on  this  i?ubject,  that  we  shall  be  likely  to  have  a  rq^etition  of 
the  Sabine- women  affair,  if  a  hundred  or  two  hundred  persons 


PEX-PORTRAITS.  549 

of  opposite  sexes  meet  together  to  consult  upon  affairs  of 
state,  cit}',  or  town.  Instead  of  being  the  most  orderl}-  and 
respectable,  as  well  as  altogether  the  most  delightful,  wa}-  of 
spending  one's  time,  one  would  think  that  a  social  gathering 
of  men  and  women,  if  bj'  an}'  chance  it  is  turned  into  a  meet- 
ing for  a  public  purpose,  would  necessaril}-  be  a  tumultuous 
and  obscene  crowd,  carefully-  to  be  watched  b}'  the  police, 
and  possibl}'  by  the  militar}-.  Women  are  frequentl}'  asked 
to  vote  at  lectures :  the}-  choose  presidents  of  lyceums  b}' 
hand- vote.  Suppose  they  should  vote  by  ballot :  does  any- 
body suppose  there  would  be  a  mob,  with  the  fire-alarm,  the 
watchman's  rattle,  and  the  reading  of  the  Riot  Act?  It  is 
reallj-  about  time  for  these  childish  arguments  against  female 
suffrage  to  be  dismissed.  If  we  don't  choose  to  grant  it, 
ver}'  well ;  but  let  us  fall  back  on  our  reserved  right  not  to 
give  any  reason,  and  simply  sa}',  "  You  shall  not,  and 
there's  an  end  of  it." 

Shall  not  women  decide  the  question?  Yes,  just  as  they 
decide  other  questions.  Thev  shall  decide  the  question  as 
to  whether  the)'  will  go  to  college,  or  to  the  counting-room, 
or  the  farm,  or  an^^where  else.  Do  we  propose  to  ask  the 
majority  of  women  in  Danvers,  for  instance,  whether  Sally 
Ann  shall  go  to  Vassar  C(^llege  or  not?  or  take  the  vote 
of  the  neighborhood  as  to  whether  Emil}-  Jane  shall  go  to 
Milan  to  get  a  musical  education?  I  guess  not.  These 
things  are  to  be  left  to  the  individual  woman,  not  to  the 
mass.  And  so  of  voting.  If  the  majority  of  women  do  not 
desire  to  vote  under  the  amended  Constitution,  let  thoni  stay 
at  home.  There  are  elections,  plenty  of  them,  in  which  half 
the  men  do  not  vote.  Do  the  stay-at-homes  feel  aggrieved? 
They  are  ashamed  of  themselves,  doubtless  ;  but  the}'  do  not 
complain,  nor  do  thev  think  it  a  hardship.  Some  one  says 
that  woman's  right  to  vote  depends  on  her  nature.  If  it  is 
her  nature  to  vote,  it  is  her  right  to  vote.  Well,  I  don't 
know  how  we  can  determine  this  question,  except  b}-  leaving 
the  opportunity  of  choice.  How  is  it  to  be  fairly  ascertained 
whether  it  is  a  woman's  nature  to  vote,  if  she  is  told,  the 


■650  "WARRINGTON:" 

moment  she  is  old  enough  to  speak  the  word  "governor" 
or  the  word  "politics,"  that  it  is  of  no  consequence  to  her 
who  the  "governor"  is,  and  that  she  can  never  have  sxny 
thing  to  do  with  "politics"?  The  voting  nature  never  de- 
veloped itself  in  the  black  people  until  within  a  jear  or  two ; 
nor  in  the  white  men,  ver}^  largel}',  until  the  Revolution  :  it  is 
just  developing  itself  in  England,  and  has  not  \ei  begun  to 
develop  itself  in  Austria.  Nature  is,  in  fact,  as  far  as  this 
is  concerned,  a  matter  of  education ;  and  it  is  begging  the 
question  to  say  women  ought  to  be  educated  up  to  the  desire 
to  vote.  The  wa}"  to  educate  them  in  public  affairs  is  to  set 
them  to  voting  as  fast  as  the}'  desire  to  vote  ;  for  the  woman- 
intellect  is  as  capable  of  talking  and  understanding  politics 
as  the  man-intellect.  Education  before  the  ballot  is,  in  its 
relation  to  government,  putting  the  cart  before  the  horse. 
The  ballot  is  education  in  government. 

It  is  not  at  all  uecessar}'  for  the  friends  of  woman-suffrage 
to  take  the  ground  that  suffrage  is  a  right.  All  the}'  need 
claim  is,  that,  if  it  is  a  right,  women  have  an  equal  right  to 
it ;  or  that,  if  it  is  a  privilege,  women  have  an  equal  privi- 
lege. If  it  depends  on  religion,  religious  women  must  have 
it ;  if  on  education,  educated  women  must  have  it ;  if  on 
property,  women  of  property  must  have  it ;  if  on  muscle, 
muscular  women  must  have  it ;  if  on  the  family  relation,  the 
female  twin-head  of  the  family  must  have  it ;  and  bachelors, 
and  men  without  families,  must  give  way  to  the  claims  of 
wives  and  mothers.  If  birthright,  if  American  democratic 
ideas,  confer  the  right,  or  if  capacity  alone  confers  it,  — 
either  way,  the  claim  of  woman  is  irrefragable ;  and  all 
there  is  left  is  the  debate  among  the  voters  as  to  whether 
they  will,  or  how  soon  they  will,  yield  that  mere  exercise  of 
forceful  authority  which  is  the  only  tenure  of  their  superi- 
ority in  politics  and  government. 

Loose-jointed  arguers  and  foolish  alarmists,  who  are 
frighted  at  the  idea  that  the  twenty  thousand  prostitutes 
of  New-York  City  are  going  to  the  ward-meetings  en  masse 
to  add  their  numerical  strength  to  that  of  the  dangerous 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  551 

classes  who  now  rule  there,  maj-  dismiss  their  fears  as  to  any 
evil  liJiely  to  come  from  this  reform  either  to  religion  or 
politics. 

I  believe  I  am  as  firm  as  an}-  man  on  the  right  side  of  this 
question ;  but,  when  the  consummation  is  reached,  I  expect 
to  see,  for  a  time  at  least,  so  many  absurd  things  done  b}' 
the  new  voters,  that  the  faith  of  all,  except  the  securelj"- 
grouuded  ones  (to  which  class  I  belong),  will  be  widely 
shaken.  In  those  days,  Todd  and  Fulton  and  Bushnell,  and 
Carlos  White,  and  the  rest,  will  be  round,  busy  as  bees,  with 
their  "  I  told  3'ou  so  !  "  and  their  "  Don't  j-ou  see  what  fools 
those  women  out  in  Pumpkintown  have  made  of  themselves  ? ' ' 
and  their  "  "What  do  j-ou  think  now?  "  and  their  "  See  what 
30U  come  to  when  you  abandon  the  Bible,  and  disregard  the 
ajDOstle  Paul!"  and  (still  worse)  their  "We  must  go  back 
to  the  good  old  times."  We,  who  have  summered  and  win- 
tered this  question  from  the  abolitionist's  point  of  view  for 
twenty  or  thirt}-  3-ears,  shall  bo  able  to  answer  such  superficial 
cries  ;  but  I  am  afraid  some  of  the  sentimental  converts  will 
be  sadly  shaken  up  b}-  the  re-action  which  may  follow. 

The  men  are  making  more  or  loss  progress  in  the  true  the- 
ory of  government.  We  are  getting  toward  free  jjlay^  and 
shall  by  and  by  be  satisfied  that  the  least  quantity  of  govern- 
ment consistent  with  public  safet}-  and  order  and  individual 
freedom  is  best.  But  the  new  voters  will  have  to  try  their 
hand,  and  see  the  folly  of  a  thousand  things  which  we  now 
see  the  folly  of.  We  shall  have  organization  wlierc  none  is 
needed,  ten  times  as  many  committees  as  can  be  made  use- 
ful, enough  vice-presidents  and  scc-retaries  and  trustees  to 
take  up  all,  and  more  than  all,  the  available  material  for  such 
purposes,  ten  thousand  reports  from  ten  thousand  depart- 
ments, and  more  points  of  order  than  were  ever  ch-eamed  of 
bj'  the  most  hackneyed  parliamentarian. 

It  is  thought  to  be  an  overwhelming  argument  that  women 
ought  not  to  vote,  because  it  would  be  awkward  to  have  a 
wife  in  labor  called  away  from  her  home  to  take  a  seat  upon 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court.     This  is  the  favorite  point 


552  "  WARRINGTON: " 

in  conversation  on  the  subject.  Can  a  woman  in  labor  dig 
potatoes?  Can  a  woman  in  labor  drive  a  horse  to  plough? 
Of  course  not.  I  am  going  to  write  a  treatise  on  this  ver}'^ 
point,  and  shall  annihilate  Abb^'  Ma}',  and  all  the  visionaries 
who  talk  about  horticultural  pursuits.  I  shall  ask  most 
respectfully  what  warrant  there  is  in  the  Scripture  for  set- 
ting women  to  work  raising  asparagus.  I  shall  follow  the 
Rev.  James  Reed,  and,  taking  a  text  from  Deuteronom}', 
show  that,  because  the  Jews  had  a  police  regulation  against 
women  wearing  men's  garments,  therefore  women  should  not 
kill  canker-worms ;  and  then  I  shall  triumphantl}'  ask  if 
men  have  not  raised  the  best  potatoes  and  turnips  hitherto, 
and  if  this  is  not  evidence  that  the}'  are  all-sufficient  for  this 
purpose  hereafter.  Even  the  potatoes  themselves  have  exes 
enough  to  see  this.  Incidentallj*,  I  shall  overthrow  all  the 
other  claims  that  are  made  in  favor  of  more  diversified  oc«u- 
pations  for  women  ;  for  the}'  can  all  be  annihilated  b}'  the 
same  reasoning  which  is  so  effective  on  the  suffrage-question. 
It  is  possible  that  we  shall  let  the  normal-school  girls  and 
others  continue  to  teach ;  ^  that  innovation  seems  to  have 
gone  too  far  to  be  checked  :  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
the  female  teachers  are  rather  more  disposed  to  Qog  than  the 
males  ;  and,  if  this  is  so,  the^^  are  fulfilling  the  Old-Testa- 
ment idea,  and  an  exception  ma}'-  be  made  in  their  case. 
But,  if  we  cannot  resist  the  beginnings,  we  can  at  least  put 
a  stop  to  further  progress.  The  woman-in-labor  argument, 
which  is,  of  course,  the  best  ono,  will  not  apply  in  all  cases  ; 
bat  we  shall  have  the  Cible  and  cartoon,  and  (what  is  better 
than  all  the  rest)  the  argument  of  "I  won't!"  and  "You 
sha'n't !  "  and  "  I  don't  want  my  sister  or  daughter  to  go  to 

1  "We  talk  about  female  school-teachers  as  if  they  were  a  modern 
invention.  Men  at  the  age  of  fifty  and  sixty,  at  least,  can  remember 
their  old  '•school-ma'ams;"  and,  in  some  genealogical  researches,  I 
found  a  reminiscence  of  a  woman  wlio  kept  a  ''  pastry-ochool "  in  Bos- 
ton a  luindred  year=?  ago,  and  wrote  poetry  for  the  newspapers  about 
the  destruction  of  the  tea  in  the  harbor.  The  local  histories  are  full  of 
evidenLC  that  there  were  no  legal  barriers  against  the  employment  of 
women  then. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  553 

a  caucus  ;  "  and  these  will  last  a  good  while.  I  have  hopes, 
that,  if  we  all  take  hold  with  our  mops,  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
may  be  kept  back  three  or  four  years  longer,  to  saj'  the 
least. 

Here  is  a  question  of  right,  uecessaril}-  a  question  of  coa- 
stitution  and  statute,  which  luust  be  settled,  in  the  first 
instance,  by  voting,  and  which,  like  the  antislavery  cause, 
is  a  fairer  matter  for  political  action  than  an}'  one  of  the  ten 
thousand  questions  of  philanthrop}'  —  such  as  the  licensing 
of  dram-shops,  capital  punishment,  flogging  of  children  in 
schools,  Sunda}-  libraries,  prison-discipline,  divorce,  labor, 
and  so  on  —  which  it  is  substantially  impossible  to  make  a 
political  party  out  of,  or  one  which  will  last  a  great  while. 
Those  who  are  opposed  to  the  continued  subjection  of  woman 
would  be  justified  in  rallying  as  a  party,  because  to  dcu}-  one- 
half  the  human  race  the  exercise  of  an  inalienable  right  is 
a  wrong  justifying  extreme  measures.  If  the  time  is  ripe 
for  a  movement,  not  complicated  with  others,  let  it  come. 
The  opposition  to  woman-sufii-age  is  based  on  a  prejudice 
which  is  just  as  artijicial^  and  as  little  natural.,  as  the  preju- 
dice against  negro-Aoting,  which  ten  years  ago,  e^'cn  in  such 
States  as  Connecticut  and  New  York,  would  have  been 
sworn  to  b}-  the  average  voter  as  an  ordinance  of  Divine 
Providence,  which  must  forever  keep  the  two  colors  apart  at 
the  polls.  Do  awa}-  with  the  restriction,  b}'  main  strengtli  or 
by  •'  accident,"  of  a  judicial  decision,  and  nobod}"  will  think 
of  it  again,  except  as  a  reminiscence  of  superstition  and  injus- 
tice. The  argument  which  overbears  the  demand  for  woman- 
sulTrage  is,  that  woman  is  unfit  for  it.  The  apparent  reason 
for  this  is  a  total  lack  of  experience  and  responsibility.  Men 
have  kept  women  from  government  ever  since  the  world 
began,  and  now  insist  that  the  hands  the}'  have  cut  off  shall 
work,  the  e3'cs  the}'  have  put  out  shall  see,  the  ears  they  have 
stopped  up  shall  hear.  This  is  unreasonable  ;  but  there  is 
so  much  the  more  reason  why  women  should  not  rush  into 
amateur  government,  which  will  only  increase  the  volume  of 
the  ciy  against  their  incapacit}'.     The  whole  matter  must  be 


554  "WARRINGTON:" 

argued  3-ears  and  years  longer  in  all  its  branches,  before  any 
voting  can  be  done :  and  the  question  has  got  to  be  settled 
b}'  the  votes  of  the  men,  in  the  last  resort ;  and  the  appeal 
must  be  made  to  them  to  grant,  as  well  as  to  the  women  to 
ask  for,  the  right  of  suffrage. 

A  good  deal  of  time  is  wasted  in  the  utterl}'  irrelevant 
discussion,  whether  sutfrage  is  a  natural  right  or  not.  Who 
cares  whether  it  is  or  not?  Suffrage  is  a  modern  invention  ; 
hardh",  in  its  present  scope,  more  than  a  hundred  j-eai's  old, 
and  not  much  more  than  twice  as  old  as  the  right  to  ride  in 
railroad-cars.  If  voting  is  not  a  natural  right,  it  is  because 
voting  was  never  heard  of  in  a  state  of  nature.  All  that  is 
nccessarj'  to  show  is,  that  the  right,  whether  natural  or  con- 
ventional, or  by  whatever  name  it  is  called,  is  equal  in 
woman  and  man.  The  proper  way  to  put  it  is,  that  the 
woman  has  a  natural  right  to  equalitj'  in  the  use  of  the 
means  and  weapons  of  government,  under  whatever  govern- 
ment, and  whatever  processes  are  employed.  A  good  deal 
of  time  is  also  wasted  in  replying  to  the  absurd  pretext,  that 
men  alone  must  vote,  because  men  alone  can  defend  the  gov- 
ernment in  time  of  war.  Where  did  this  notion  come  from? 
I  don't  believe  it  is  possible  to  And,  in  an}-  constitution,  law, 
treatise  on  government,  or  an}'  thing  else,  a  paragraph  from 
any  respectable  source  which  connects  the  right  of  suffrage 
with  the  duty  of  bearing  arms  :  if  there  is  an}',  I  have  never 
seen  it.  In  point  of  fact,  during  the  late  war,  our  soldiers 
in  camp,  the  men  who  bore  the  brunt  of  the  war,  were  not 
alloioed  to  vote,  while  the  stay-at-homes  were ;  and  the 
people  refused  to  alter  the  Constitution  so  that  their  votes 
could  be  talien  as  the  votes  of  soldiers  of  other  States  were 
taken. 

CAN   WOMEN   HOLD    JUDICIAL    OFFICES  ? JUDGE    WHEEL- 

GREASE'S   opinion    in    1871. 

The  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  woman-question 
has  put  a  broad  grin  on  everybody's  face.  Some  of  the 
lawyers  thought  it  a  well-contrived  hoax ;  but  there  seems 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  '555 

to  be  no  doubt  of  its  genuineness :  indeed,  the  decision  is 
quite  in  the  line  with  most  of  the  decisions  of  the  present 
court.  You  know  it  is  quite  a  modern  court,  Judge  Chap- 
man's commission  only  dating  as  far  back  as  18G0.  Judge 
Gray  came  in  in  1864  ;  Judge  "Wells,  in  1866  ;  Judge  Colt, 
in  1868;  Judge  Ames  and  Judge  Morton,  in  1869.  Judges 
Shaw,  Bigelow,  Hoar,  Foster,  Menick,  Metcalf,  Dewey, 
Thomas,  have  all  left,  in  one  way  or  another,  within  the  last 
dozen  3-ears  ;  and  yon  see  what  a  mess  they  have  made  of  it. 
However,  there  is  no  danger  that  the  thing  will  ever  be  worse 
than  it  is  now.  Of  course,  nobody  will  employ  any  of  these 
men  as  law3-ers  after  this ;  and,  even  if  Judge  Colt  should 
go  back  to  railroad  practice,  there  would  be  a  rush  of  legal 
noodles  to  the  governor's  room  for  his  place,  encouraged  hy 
the  late  decision.  If  the  governor  should  sa}*  to  the  appli- 
cant, "  Sir,  give  me  some  evidence  of  your  legal  capacit}-," 
the  answer  would  be  obvious:  "Your  Excellenc}-,  that 
qualification  was  done  away  with  when  the  court  gave  its 
opinion  on  the  question  of  female  justices,  and  when  3"ou 
followed  it."  I  have  been  examining  this  decision  in  a  his- 
torical point  of  view,  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  whether  or 
not  there  is  an}'  similar  case  on  record.  I  cannot  find  any 
case  exactl}'  like  it ;  but  there  was  a  transaction  in  tlie  town 
of  Pigsgusset,  Bristol  County,  some  time  within  the  last 
quarter  of  a  eentur}',  which  seems  to  have  some  resemblance 
to  it.  There  was  an  article  in  the  warrant  relative  to  the  fill- 
ing of  a  vacancy  upon  the  school  committee,  Rev.  Arthur 
Jenkins  having  been  suddenly-  called  away  to  a  better  world. 
Somebody  proposed  the  name  of  his  widow,  Jerusha  (Bum- 
stead)  Jenkins,  who,  it  was  well  i<nown,  had  written  all  his 
school-reports,  and  most  of  his  sermons,  for  years.  This  was 
thought  to  be  a  joke  at  first ;  but  the  people  of  Pigsgusset  be- 
gan to  inquire,  "  Why  not?  "  and  the  thing  seemed  likely  to 
go,  when  old  Dr.  Gad  Smith  rose,  and,  to  gain  time,  moved 
that  the  subject  be  laid  upon  the  table.  Henry  Sawin,  a 
bright  young  fellow  just  out  of  college,  raised  the  "  point  of 
order,"  that  the  town  had  no  table  ;  and  Squire  Hatliaway, 


556  ''WARRINGTON:" 

the  moderator,  said  the  point  was  "well  taken;"  and  Oli- 
ver Greenleaf,  the  constable,  was  directed  to  procure  one ; 
but,  finding  some  difficult}^,  the  meeting  was  adjourned  till 
the  next  Monda3\  Of  course,  the  town  was  in  a  hubbub. 
Conservative  and  radical  had  it,  "  hip  and  thigh,"  all  over 
the  village,  from  Tuesday  morning  to  the  day  of  the  meet- 
ing. The  grocer^'-stores  were  crowded  with  disputants  from 
morning  till  night.  "  I  tell  you,  you  can't  do  it !  "  —  "  Wh}' 
can't  you?" — "Because  3'ou  can't!"  This  was  the  bur- 
den of  the  discussion,  as  it  always  is  between  the  two 
classes  of  opinions,  ending  Avith  the  inevitable  conclusion, 
"Well,  I  don't  see  why;"  or,  "We'll  see  if  we  can't." 
Town-meeting  came,  Hathaway  still  in  the  chair ;  and  the 
struggle  was  close.  Finall}',  just  as  they  were  going  to  put 
it  to  vote,  up  jumped  Adonijah  Bourne,  and  moved  that  the 
subject  be  referred  to  old  Judge  Wheelgi-ease  for  his  opinion. 
Wheelgrease  had  been  judge  of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and 
justice  of  the  peace,  referee,  and  all  sorts  of  things  ;  and 
though  never  very  bright,  and  then  pretty  much  in  his 
dotage,  was  still  reputed  to  be  "learned  in  the  law."  The 
motion  took  with  all  the  conservatives,  who  knew  what  the 
old  judge  would  sa}-,  and  with  the  lazy  and  timid  ones,  who 
wanted  to  escape  responsibilit}-.  Even  the  man  who  first 
proposed  the  name  of  the  Widow  Jenkins  fell  in  with  it,  and 
said,  "  Well,  perhaps  we'd  better,  if  there's  any  doubt 
about  it."  So  the  meeting  was  adjourned  for  another  week. 
Then  there  was  another  crowd.  It  had  leaked  out  that  old 
Wheelgrease  had  been  round,  asking  all  the  justices  of  the 
peace  in  the  count}-,  whom  he  could  find,  what  their  opinion 
was,  and  all  the  school-committee-men  besides ;  and,  on 
the  opening  of  the  meeting,  the  following  document  was 
read  :  — 

PiGSGUSSET,  March  — ,  18 — . 
Gentlemen,  —  In  reply  to  a  vote  of  the  town,  conveyed  to  me  in 
a  note  from  Jefferson  Phelps,  town-clerk,  I  have  the  honor  to  say, 
By  the  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  the  office  of  school  committee  is 
an  executive  office,  and  must  be  exercised  by  the  officer  in  person ;  and 
a  woman  —  whether  married  or  unmarried,  whether  spinster,  wife,  or 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  bbl 

widow  —  cannot  be  appointed  to  sucli  an  oflSce.  I  have  inquired  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants  of  Pigsgusset  and  of  all  the  neighboring  towns, 
and  have  diligently  searched  the  town-records,  and,  as  far  as  possible, 
all  the  old  Indian  and  colonial  titles,  and  find  no  account  of  a  woman 
being  chosen  to  such  an  office.  There  is,  in  the  record  for  1S08,  a 
statement  that  Polly  Spurr  was  elected  in  the  spring  of  that  year; 
but  upon  inquiry  of  Eldad  Spurr,  now  living  at  an  advanced  age,  I 
find  that  Polly  Spurr  was  not  a  woman,  but  a  man,  being  named  for 
his  uncle,  Pelatiah  Polly,  then  of  Scarborough.  The  whole  frame 
and  purport  of  the  law,  and  the  universal  understanding  and  un- 
broken practical  construction,  for  the  greater  part  of  a  century,  all 
support  this  conclusion,  and  are  inconsistent  with  any  other.  It  fol- 
lows, that,  if  the  "Widow  Jenkins  should  be  elected,  she  would  have 
no  legal  authority  to  exercise  the  functions  appertaining  to  the 
office. 

I  append  a  certificate,  signed  by  several  gentlemen  learned  in  the 
law  whom  I  have  consulted  on  this  point. 

Sheakjasiiub  Wiieelgrease,  LL.D., 
Late  Judrje  of  the  Court  of  Sessions. 

The  undersigned  agree  with  the  conclusions  arrived  at  by  Judge 
Wheelgrease :  — 

Samuel  Purintox,  LL.D., 
Eliakim  Parsons,  A.M., 
B.  Broavx  Butterfield,  M.D., 
Thaddeus  Slocum, 
Justices  of  the  Peace  for  all  the  Counties. 

Elkaxah  Moody,  A.'M.,  D.D., 
'  Preacher  of  Election  Sermon  (1803). 

Note.  —  Dr.  Butterfield  adds  in  a  private  letter,  that  the  thing  is  settled  by 
philological  considerations;  for  a  member  of  the  school  committee  has  always,  to 
the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief,  been  spoken  of  as  a  "  school-committee- 
man."  This  unbroken  construction  seems  to  mo  to  be  worth  considering,  though 
I  do  not  regard  it  as  conclusive.  —  S.  W. 

There  was  a  good  deal  of  tumult  when  this  letter  was  read  ; 
but  it  was  supposed  that  it  would  be  conclusive,  and  the 
conservatives  be  read}'  for  a  vot<?.  When  the  ballots  were 
produced,  however,  it  was  found  that  old  "Wheelgrease,  Sam 
Puritan,  Parsons,  Thad.  Slocum,  Dr.  Butterfried,  and  Dr. 
Mood}',  were  all  candidates  for  the  place.  I  transcribe  from 
the  records  the  following:  "  Whole  number  of  votes,  231  ; 
necessary  for  a  choice,  116.  Jerusha  Jenkins,  Gl  ;  B.  Brown 
Butterfried,  39  ;  Samuel  Puritan,  36  ;  Eliakim  Parsons,  33  ; 


558  "WARBINGTON:" 

Thaddeus  Slocum,  29  ;  Elkanali  Moodj-,  24  ;  scattering,  2  ; 
blank  (counted  for  Dr.  Butterfried) ,  1,"  There  seems  to  be 
a  discrepanc}'  here  between  the  "  whole  number,"  as  stated, 
and  the  aggregate  vote  ;  but  I  suppose  such  errors,  frequently 
happen  in  town-records.  On  the  second  ballot,  Mrs.  Jen- 
kins had  121 ;  and  the  opposition  concentrated  on  Judge 
Wheclgrease,  giving  him  nearl}'  all  the  rest.  On  looking 
at  the  record  for  the  next  j'ear,  I  find  that  she  w-as  re- 
elected by  nearl}'  a  unanimous  vote ;  and  somebody  has 
written  in  red  ink  on  the  margin,  "  Query:  What's  become 
of  Old  Wheelgrease's  opinion?  "  ^ 


1  Attorney  Wheelgrease's  first  appearance  was  in  1857.  Mr.  Justice 
Hitchcock  was  a  police  justice,  busily  engaged  in  the  trial  of  liquor- 
cases,  which  the  "friends  of  the  cause  "  were  "putting  through"  with 
great  vigor.  Suddenly,  however,  the  trials  were  brought  to  a  standstill 
in  this  way,  as  the  justice  relates:  — 

"  The  '  friends  of  temperance,'  last  week,  pounced  upon  thirteen  Irishmen 
suspected  of  being  engaged  in  selling  hquov;  and  on  Friday  they  were  duly  hauled 
up  before  me.  I  noticed  a  rather  broad  grin  upon  Lawyer  Toddysticli's  face  as  the 
witnesses  were  testifying.  The  case  was  perfectly  plain ;  and  I  was  about  to  pass 
sentence,  when  Toddystick  rose,  and  inquired  under  what  law  I  proposed  to  pun- 
ish the  men.  '  Under  the  Liquor  I.,aw  of  1S52,'  said  I,  '  of  course.  You  are  familiar 
enough  with  the  course  of  justice  in  this  court,  and  ought  not  to  aslc  such  foolish 
questions.'  (I  spolce  witn  some  severity.)  '  May  it  please  your  Honor,'  said  Toddy- 
stick, in  a  tone,  which,  I  confess,  softened  me  somewhat,  '  that  law  is  repealed.'  — 
'  You  are  mistaken,'  said  ]Mr.  Wheelgrease,  the  attorney  for  the  Commonwealth, 
with  an  air  of  triumph:  'the  new  liquor  law  has  not  yet  passed;  and,  if  it  had,  I 
rather  thiidi  we  could  convict  these  men  under  it.'  — '  I  am  aware,  sir,'  said  Toddy- 
stick, '  that  the  new  law  has  not  passed :  but,  notwithstanding  that  fact,  Uie  law  of 
1852  is  rei>ealed ;  and  if  your  Honor  will  have  the  goodness  to  examine  tlie  official 
copy  of  the  Act,  entitled  "  An  Act  to  make  Pews  Personal  Property,"  you  will 
find  it  so.  I  will  read  it,'  continued  he,  '  as  I  find  it  in  the  DaUy  Bee  (of  AprD  11), 
■which  is  the  official  paper  of  the  State.'  —  '  I  have  a  copy,'  said  I,  '  furnished  to  me 
by  the  Secretary  of  State ;  but  you  are  certainly  mistaken  in  your  assertion.'  —  '  If 
your  Honor  will  allow  me,'  said  he,  '  I  will  read  the  Act.'  Whereupon  Toddystick 
read  as  follows :  '  Be  it  enacted,  &c.  (Sect.  1)  Pews  in  all  houses  of  public  wor- 
ship sh.all  be  personal  property.  ((Sect.  2)  Nothing  in  this  Act  shall  alTect  any 
existing  right  of  dower  in  any  pew.  (Sect.  3)  All  Acts  consistent  herewith  are 
hereby  repealed.'  — '  Now,'  said  Toddystick  with  most  provoking  coolness, '  if  your 
Honor  wUl  examine  the  Liquor  Law  of  1852  with  care,  you  will  find  that  it  is  entirely 
consistent  with  the  making  of  pews  personal  property.  There  is  not  a  section  of 
it,  or  a  syllable,  which,  by  the  remotest  implication,  can  be  deemed  inconsistent 
with  thi.s  new  Act:  therefore  the  law  of  1852  is  repealed,  and  my  clients  must  be 
discharged.'  You  will  readily  see  what  a  predicament  I  waa  in.  WTieelgrease 
began  to  talk  al)out  typographical  errors,  and  attempted  to  browbeat  me,  as  well 
as  Toddystick;  but  I  promptly  told  him,  'This  court,  Mistei-  Wheelgrease,  caa 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  559 

[1872.] 

HARVARD    COLLEGE    AGAINST    WOMAN    AND    THE     CO-EDUCATION 
OF    THE    SEXES. 

The  Hai'vard-college  report  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  stuff' 
able  and  (in  most  things)  sensible  men  "will  write  when 
hard  pressed.  It  is  about  on  a  par  with  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  "  It  would  require  much  time  and  labor  to 
arrive  at  an  unprejudiced  understanding  of  the  practical 
operation  of  the  co-education  of  the  sexes  in  the  colleges 
where  it  now  exists."  Suppose  it  would  ?  What  are  the  over- 
seers of  a  college  for,  but  to  take  time,  and  undergo  labor, 
for  the  solution  of  all  educational  questions?  If  Judge 
Hoar  and  Mr.  Parker  are  too  busy,  and  Dr.  Walker  too  old, 
to  do  the  work,  let  them  find  men  who  will  attend  to  it. 
Would  these  three  men  venture  to  put  in  such  an  excuse  for 
neglecting  to  treat  au}^  other  question  of  importance  con- 
nected with  the  management  of  the  college  ?  Of  course  not. 
Moreover,  these  men  say  they  think,  "if  the  information 
asked  for  was  obtained,  it  would  not  throw  much  light  on  the 
expediency  of  adopting  the  principle  at  Harvard,  where  the 
traditions  and  circumstances  are  so  different."  Traditions 
—  "ay,  there's  the  rub."  This  whole  question  of  woman's 
opportunity  is  one  of  tradition.  But  Harvard  College  even 
has  overcome  traditions.  AVhat  was  Mr.  Eliot  put  into  the 
presidenc,y  for  but  to  scatter  traditions  ?  The  ol)ject  of  the 
gentlemen  ought  to  be  to  get  rid  of  absurd  traditions.  In 
1875  the  traditions  will  be  three  3ears  older  than  they  are 
now,  and  in  1880  still  older.  They  have  got  to  go  sooner 
or  later.  If  these  traditionists  are  mean  enough  to  deny  a 
Harvard-college  education  to  their  own  daughters,  or  the 
daughters  of  their  contemporaries,  the  grand-daughters  will 
have  it,  and  bless  the  memories  of  somebod3\     Then  they 

take  no  cognizance  of  typographical  errore.  All  it  has  to  do  is  to  execute  the  laws, 
not  to  enact  them.'  —  '  Precisely  so,  j-our  Honor,'  said  Toddysticls;  '  though,  if  your 
Honor  was  more  frequently  consulted  by  the  law-making  power,  we  should  unques- 
tionably liave  more  consistent  statutes.'  At  this,  Wheelgrease  made  some  impu- 
dent remarli;  and  I  committed  him  for  contempt,  and  discliarged  tho  prisoners." 


560  "WARRINGTON:" 

try  to  strengthen  themselves  by  the  old  fogy  ism  of  "  nearly 
all  the  old  and  large  colleges,"  and  close  b}-  saj'ing  that 
what  has  brought  them  to  a  conclusion  is  the  conviction  that 
"  the  great  bod}'  of  the  friends  of  Harvard  College  are  dis- 
inclined not  only  to  the  proposed  change,  but  also  to  the 
agitation  of  the  question,  at  least  at  present."  The  first 
part  of  the  remark  seems  pertinent ;  but  what  has  the  last 
to  do  with  the  question?  Congress  used  to  be  disinclined  to 
meddle  with  slaver}-.  It  was  also  disinclined  to  the  agita- 
tion of  the  slavery-question.  It  refused  to  meddle  with  it ; 
but  luckily  the  ' '  agitation ' '  was  a  matter  over  which  it  had 
no  control.  No  more  have  the  overseers  of  Harvard  College 
any  control  over  the  "  agitation"  of  the  question  of  admit- 
ting women  to  the  university.  If  the  legislature  had  not 
foolishl}' let  slip  its  hold  upon  the  overseership  of  the  college, 
the  tradition  would  have  been  in  a  fair  way  of  yielding  before 
this  time. 

I  am  reminded  here  of  the  attempt  lately  made  by  Dr.  E.  II. 
Clark,  Pres.  Eliot,  and  Dr.  Holmes,  to  excuse  the  hunkerism 
of  Harvard  College,  by  falling  back,  as  their  last  intrench- 
ment,  upon  physiology,  and  the  periodicit}'  of  the  female 
organization.  These  people  argue  as  if  the  proposition  to 
educate  bo3's  and  girls  together  were  a  new  one.  In  the 
town  of  Concord,  —  and  I  don't  suppose  that  town  was,  forty 
years  ago,  different  from  other  towns  in  this  respect,  —  bo^'s 
and  girls  studied  Latin,  and  parsed  Pope's  "Essay  on  Man," 
together ;  and  if  Dr.  Bartlett,  or  Dr.  Ilurd,  or  Dr.  Ripley, 
had  attempted  to  separate  the  sexes  on  any  such  pretence  as 
these  Harvard-college  Bourbons  now  promulgate,  the}'  would 
have  been  laughed  out  of  town.  The  whole  theory  is  evi- 
dently a  "fetch,"  designed  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining 
the  determination  to  which  Dr.  Walker  and  Judge  Hoar 
have  arrived  in  their  recent  report.  No :  in  a  great  many 
respects,  public  opinion  has  not  advanced  one  iota  on  this 
question,  —  apparently  advanced,  I  ought  to  say.  I  do  not 
doubt  that  it  has  really  advanced,  and  that  the  bairiers  will 
b}'  and  by  give  way  all  at  once. 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  561 

[June  9,  1875.] 
woman's    independence    in    1776    AND    IN    ISTG. 

The  suffrage-meeting  at  Trcmont  Temple  started  up  a 
new  subject  of  debate,  in  the  protest  against  keeping  the 
Philadelphia  or  any  other  centennial  celebration  of  the 
events  of  Jul}-,  177G.  And  supposing  it  to  be  admitted 
that  the  question  of  individual  suffrage  of  1S7G,  and  that  of 
national  independence  of  1776,  are  veiy  different  ones;  that 
it  is  not  true,  in  every  individual  case,  that  a  man  or  a 
woman  who  pays  a  tax,  and  is  not  allowed  a  vote,  is  neces- 
sarily and  thereb}'  a  victim  of  tj'ranu}- :  still  there  seems 
enough  in  the  two  cases  to  justify  pretty  forcible  language. 
A  hundred  years  ought  to  have  brought  with  them  to  the 
American  mind  a  stronger  sense  of  the  gross  injustice  of 
denj-ing  the  individual  suffrage  to  woman,  whether  a  tax- 
payer on  her  property  or  not.  What  would  Sam  Adams 
have  said  if  Gen.  Gage  or  Thomas  Hutchinson  had  accosted 
hun  with  the  remark,  '"Hold  j-our  tongue,  Adams!  3-ou  are 
the  head  demagogue  of  Boston  town-meetin'  ;  3'ou  control 
the  colon}',  get  up  committees  of  correspondence,  throw  over- 
board from  our  ships  such  imports  as  you  don't  like,  and 
such  as  3'OU  persuade  the  populace  not  to  like  ;  3-ou  have 
bedevilled  Jo  AVarren  to  neglect  his  business,  and  take  to 
drink,  and  even  got  John  Hancock  to  shell  out  his  money  in 
aid  of  what  you  have  agreed  to  call  3'our  '  cause : '  and  as 
'or  voting,  3-ou  are  all  the  time  voting ;  so  that  we  get  one 
of  3-our  infernal  petitions  or  resolutions  from  Faneuil  Hall  or 
the  Old  South  ever}-  da3'  of  the  week :  haven't  3-ou  all  the 
rights  3-0U  want?  "  Wouldn't  this  have  been  plausible?  But 
Adams  was  not  deceived  or  turned  aside.  Representation 
elsewhere  than  in  the  Old  State  House  was  what  he  wanted. 
If  the  able  and  intelligent  and  (as  far  as  nearl}^  all  the  mat- 
ters of  law  and  government  are  concerned)  just  American 
statesmen  —  like  Judge  Hoar  or  Gen.  Hawlc3',  for  exam- 
ple —  could  be  made  to  see  this  question  as  thousands  of 
women  sec  it,  no  matter  whether  the}'  are  tax-pa3-ers  or  not, 


562  "WARRINGTON:" 

they  would  settle  it  very  speedilj'.  The  fact  is,  they  are  the 
sentimentalists  ;  and  they  insist  that  their  sentimentalism 
shall  control  not  only  all  other  folks'  sentimentalism,  but  the 
question  of  right  also. 

There  was  never  any  pretence  among  the  men  who  framed 
the  constitutions  of  1780  and  thereabout  that  the  exclusion 
of  women  from  the  right  of  suffrage  was  to  be  perpetual  and 
immovable.  The  great  Theophilus  Parsons,  in  "The  Essex 
Result,"  written  within  a  3-ear  or  two  of  1780,  made  no  pre- 
tence of  natural  inability  or  incapabilit}-,  but  onl}'  that,  at 
that  time,  women's  occupations  were  such  that  they  were  not 
in  public  life,  or  in  positions  of  public  activity,  so  as  to  make 
the  question  one  of  practical  consequence.  Now  woman 
has  been  forced  (quite  as  much  as  she  has  sought  to  force 
herself)  into  active  positions.  Look  at  the  census  tables,  and 
3-0U  will  find  that  she  is  in  hundreds  of  trades,  and  is  even 
knockhig  at  the  doors  and  looking  in  at  the  windows  of  the 
lawyers'  offices  ;  preaching  even,  in  spite  of  Paul,  and  with- 
out half  as  much  expense  (for  pulpit  spittoons)  as  there 
used  to  be  ;  editing,  nay,  lobbying,  —  appearing  before  legis- 
lative committees  to  suggest  how  to  get  women  into  the 
State  Prison,  and  at  the  same  time  protesting  that  she  is 
not  in  favor  of  letting  them  out  of  their  political  bonds.  So 
Judge  Parsons' s  reasons  are  gone,  as  in  1820  the  reasons  for 
property  qualification  for  men  went,  and  in  1833  religious 
liberty  was  established  by  the  abolition  of  the  Third  Article 
of  the  Bill  of  Rights. 

The}'  say  the  cause  makes  no  progress.  Nonsense !  it 
cannot  help  progress ;  for  it  is  a  movement  of  civilization 
itself.  And  it  is  no  wonder  that  women  sa}',  "  My  dear  sir, 
3^ou  have  exercised  your  pig-hcadedness  long  enough :  we 
have  answered  your  reasons  times  enough;  and  now  we 
insist  on  immediate  justice.  You  shall  not,  with  any  aid  or 
sympathy  from  us,  go  on  with  your  eloquential  talk,  con- 
demning us  to  the  poor  privilege  of  listening  to  you  and 
feeding  3'ou,  without  at  least  a  protest.  No  fear  but  you 
will  find  enough  women  to  aid  you.  They  are  easily 
coaxed." 


I 


PEN-PORTRAITS.  563 

"  Good  my  love,  stay  thou  at  home, 
And  read  '  The  Heir  of  Cliu.lleighbumpkins,'  — 
Trollope's  last  novel:  1  will  send  it  thee. 
'  The  club,'  sayst  thou  ?  —  the  club  at  Tremont  Place  ? 
I  like  it  not:  'tis  growing  radical.     But,  if  you  go, 
Persuade  them  there  are  better  things  than  balloting." 

The  number  of  women  who  believe  themselves  capable  of 
taking  a  more  prominent  part  in  the  affairs  of  life  —  not 
only  governmental,  but  business,  literary,  religious,  social  — 
is  constantl}-  increasing,  and  without  much  regard  to  the 
suffrage-movement  itself.  Those  who  think  this  last  move- 
ment stationar}',  or  losing  groimd,  fail,  I  think,  to  see  this 
fact.  There  are  "  oceans  "  of  women  who  have  had  no  time 
to  think  of  the  question  of  voting,  and  no  ability  to  argue 
it,  and  perhaps  no  disposition  to  vote,  who  are  yet  making 
up  their  minds  that  their  past  condition  of  "  subjection  "  (as 
Mr.  Mill  with  perfect  truth  calls  it)  is  nnjust  as  well  as  irk- 
some, and  who  desire  and  are  determined  to  be  rid  of  it. 
These  women  form  the  grand  army  who  really  re-enforce  the 
doctrinaires,  perhaps  without  knowing  it.  When  the  breach 
is  made,  these  will  rush  in  fast  enough.  More  and  more  of 
them  arc  appreciating  tiie  situation  every  day. 


APPEl^DIX. 


APPENDIX    A. 

WILL   OF   CAPT.    JAMES     PECKER    OF   BOSTON,    WHARFINGER,    BORN 
IN   HAVERHILL    (pROBABLY)    IX    1686;     DIED   APRIL   2-(,   1734. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen. 

I,  James  Pecker  of  Boston,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk  and  province 
of  jNIassachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  wharfinger,  being  at  present 
weak  in  body,  yet  of  sound  mind  and  memory  (thanks  be  to  God 
therefor),  considering  the  frailty  and  mortality  of  my  body,  and 
that  it  is  appointed  for  all  men  once  to  die,  do  make  and  ordain 
this  my  last  will  and  testament.  .  .  .  Touching  any  worldly  estate 
wherewith  it  hath  pleased  God  to  bless  me  in  this  world,  I  give 
and  dispose  thereof  in  manner  and  form  following  ;  viz.,  after  pay- 
ment of  my  just  debts  and  funeral  charges,  and  the  reservation 
of  a  certain  piece  or  parcell  of  land  hereafter  to  be  mentioned,  I 
give  and  bequeath  unto  my  dearly  beloved  wife,  Bridget  Pecker, 
one  equal  half  of  all  my  real  estate  during  her  natural  life,  and  at 
her  decease  to  be  disposed  of  as  hereafter  to  be  mentioned.  Like- 
wise I  give  unto  my  said  wife,  her  hoirs  and  assigns,  my  chaise, 
and  one  horse.  Also  I  give  mito  my  said  wife,  her  heirs  and 
assigns,  one-half  of  my  pew  in  the  meeting-house,  she  or  they 
paying  one-half  of  the  dues  arising  therefrom  unto  the  minister. 
Furthermore,  I  give  unto  my  said  wife  one  equal  third  part  of  all 
my  movable  and  personal  estate  not  yet  disposed  of  (witli  reserva- 
tions of  some  things  hei'eafter  to  be  mentioned),  unto  her,  her 
heirs  and  assigns  forever.  I  give  unto  my  daughter,  Susannah 
Clark,  with  reservations  as  aforesaid,  the  improvement  of  one 
equal  fourth  part  of  my  real  estate  during  her  natural  life.  .  .  . 
Whereas  I  have  purchased  of  my  honored  father,  James  Pecker  of 

565 


566 


APPENDIX.    • 


Haverhill,  a  certain  part  or  parcell  of  land  lying  and  being  in 
Haverhill  aforesaid,  as  by  the  deed  fully  executed  to  me  may  more 
fully  appear,  I  ^ive  and  bequeath  unto  my  daughter,  Mary  Pecker, 
the  said  piece  or  parcell  of  land  at  and  immediately  after  the 
decease  of  my  father,  James  Pecker  (according  to  the  tenure  of 
said  deed),  with  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  appurtenances  there- 
unto belonging  unto  her,  her  heirs  and  assigns  forever.  Further- 
more, I  give  unto  my  said  daughter,  Mary  Pecker,^  the  remaining 
equal  fourth  part  of  all  my  real  estate,  of  what  nature,  kind,  or 
denomination,  forever  unto  her,  her  heirs  and  assigns  forever. 
I  give  unto  my  son-in-law,  Ebenezer  Papillion,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs, my  regimental  clothes,  — viz.,  my  scarlet  coat  and  breeches, 
and  my  laced  hatt;  and,  if  at  homo  at  the  time  of  my  decease, 
I  give  unto  the  said  Ebenezer  Papillion  a  mourning  suit  of 
apparel.  .   .   . 

I  do  hereby  constitute,  appoint,  and  ordain  my  dearly  beloved 
wife,  Bridget  Pecker,  together  with  my  two  brothers,  John  Pecker 
of  Haverhill,  and  Daniel  Pecker  of  Boston,  joint  executors  of  this 
my  last  will  and  testament ;  ^  and  I  do  likewise  hereby  revoke, 
annul,  and  utterly  disallow  of,  all  other  wills  and  testaments.  la 
witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal  this  twenty- 
second  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  seventeen  hundred  and 
thirty-four,  anno  rer/ni  Georgius  Secundus,  magna  Britannia  regis 
septimo.  JAMES  PECKER  and  seal. 


INVEXTORY   OF    THE    ESTATE   OF    CAPT.   JAMES   PECKER. 

Boston,  May  10,  1734. 


In  the  small  fore  room  ;  viz. :  — 

1  Black  walnut  Scrutore 

1  Black  walnut  Table  . 

1  Maple  ditto       .... 

1  Looking  glass  .... 

1  Doz.  Leather  chairs,  at  14/ 

1  2  armed  chair  &  cushing   . 

1  Standing  candlestick,  brass,  snuffers  &  dish 

1  pr.  Iron  dogs,  tongs  &  shovel    . 

3  Small  pictures  &  hand  brush    . 

Burket  on  the  New  Testament     . 

Calvin's  Sermons 


o 
3 
1 

6 

8 

10 

o 


d. 


1  AY.  S.  Eobinsou's  gieat-graudmotber,  wlio  married  Emerson  Cogs- 
well 1st. 


APPENDIX. 


567 


1  Large  Bible    . 
1  Small  ditto 
1  Barnards  Sermons 
1  Mathers  life    . 
1  Bundle  of  books 
1  Ditto 

1  Do.  .         . 

1  China  Bowl    . 
1  Burnt  Ditto    . 
%  Doz.  blue  &  white  china  cups  &  saucers 
1  Tea  pott,  5  saucers,  4  cups  of  burnt  do. 
1  Slop  dish  and  1  saucer    . 

3  painted  glass  tea  cups  and  saucers,  1  saucer 
1  Earthern  dish  .4,  2  ditto  .5     . 

4  scalloped  plates,  2/G 
28  plates,  1/G      . 

5  small  ditto      .... 

1  large  bowl,  &  three  small  ditto 

2  Milk  pots  and  Sugar  cup,  &  3  tea  cupps 
1  Pr.  Glass  decanters 
1    "    Ditto 
Allabaster  toys  . 

3  "Wine  glasses  . 
1  Pr.  large  beakers 

13  Ditto       . 
1  Glass  cannister,  1  pr.  Salts,  &  1  Cruet 
1  two  gallon  jugg 

1  Bleu  &  wliite  ditto  . 

4  flowered  stone  juggs 
4  stone  muggs,  1  pickle  pott 

2  Xew  England  pitchers,  1  cupp 
1  large  ironing  box  &  heater 
1  Small  ditto  &  ditto . 


In  the  great  Entry;  vi 


7  Small  pictures 
1  Glass lanthorne 


In  the  greate  fore  room ;  vi. 


1  looking  glass  . 
1  Maple  table    . 


£.   s.   d. 
2 

10 

10 
6 


10 

2    2 

5 

14 

13  0 
1 
6 
5 
8 
5 
13 
5 

7     6 
4 
4  16 
5 

2     6 
1     5 
1 


5 

1  10 


568 


APPENDIX. 


1  Conch  &  padd 

1  tea  table  &  tankard  sewer       .... 

2  pictures  ........ 

Earthenware  on  hearth 

Bow  and  Arrows 

Mantle  tree  ware,  &  8  images  &  a  flower  pott 

1  Silver  hilted  sword 

1  brass  hilted  ditto,  and  1  iron  without  sheath  . 
1  set  brushes      ....... 

1  case  with  11  bottles 

1  Pr.  brass  shoe  buckles  and  kne  ditto 

2  gold  rings,  1  pr.  buttons,  wt.  6  pt.  &  22  grains 
87  oz.  12  pt.  silver,  at  25 

1  pr.  silver  shoe  buckles 

In  the  small  fore  chamber ,  viz. :  — 

1  old  fashioned  chest  with  drawers 

1  small  ovel  table 

1  dressing  glass 

6  chairs     .         .    '     . 

4  pictures  

1  suit  diaper  curtains  with  head  cloth  and  teaster 
Counter  pins      .... 
1  pr.  Blankets  .... 
3)2  yds.  tickling  burge,  a  4/ 

1  Quilt 

1  pr.  sheets  &  pillow  cases 
1  Bed,  2  pillows,  1  bolster 
Bedstead,  curtain  rod,  straw  bed 
1  suit  green  cloth,  lined  with  silk 
1  Grate  coat       .... 
1  Close  body'd  coat  . 

1  Fustian  jacket    &    breeches,   &  worked    Holland 
jacket         .... 

1  pr.  leather  breeches 

2  flannel  jackets 
1  pr.  black  silk  stockings  . 
4  pr.  worsted  stockings,  a  15/  . 

1  pr.  white  ditto,  fine 

2  pr.  coarse  ditto 


£.  8. 

7 

.   12 

2 

2  15 

5 

1 

.   12 

.   10 

1 

1  15 

8 

5  3 

.  109  10 

15 

3 

1  5 

1  18 

4  4 

4 

7  16 

2 

2  10 

14 

3 

2  10 

.   11  14 

2  6 

.   20 

3  5 

1  5 

1 

2 

1  15 

10 

1  10 

3 

1 

15 

APPENDIX. 


569 


£.  s. 

5  pr.  yarn  ditto 15 

2  pr.  shoes 

1 

1  Silk  sash 

12 

1  Hatt  30/,  1  Wigg  40/,  1  pr.  leather  gloves  15/ 

3  15 

1  pr.  spatterdashes,  &  riding  belt 

1  10 

2  worked  caps,  Holland 

10 

9  plain  ditto 

1 

1  double  worsted  ditto 

7 

3  silk  handkerchiefs,  a  5/ 

15 

2  almost  new  Holland  shirts,  a  60/    . 

6 

3  ditto  not  so  good,                  a40/    . 

6 

3  ditto,                                         30/    . 

4  10 

4  ditto,                                         15/    .      ^ . 

3 

8  necks  &  2  neckcloths 

1 

1  green  velvet  cap 

5 

1  pr.  white  cotton  gloves 

3 

1  Trunk 

7 

In  the  grate  chamber;  viz.: — 

1  Damask  table  cloth,  12  napkins      .         .         .         .        4  10 

1  Home  spun  ditto    . 

2  10 

6  Cotton  and  linen  napkins 

1 

7  table  cloths,  a  10/  . 

3  10 

3  Holland  sheets 

8    5 

3  pr.  ditto,  GO/. 

6  12 

16  pr.  cotton  linen  sheets    . 

30    8 

3  pr.  coarse  linen  ditto,  a  22/ 

3     6 

3  ditto,  a  11/    . 

1  13 

1  pr.  Holland  pillow  cases 

1 

7  pr.  linen  Ditto,  a  10/     . 

3  10 

3  small  ditto,  3/ 

9 

8  pr.  cotton  and  linen  ditto,  5/ 

2 

2  coarse  bolster  cases,  a  3/ 

6 

1  Twylight 

10 

1  pr.  pillow  cases  on  ye  bed 

5 

1  pr.  cotton  linen  sheets  do. 

1  18 

1  pr.  blankets    . 

2  10 

1  Quilt      .... 

3 

1  bed,  boylster,  &  2  pillows  No. 

2 

9  19 

1  bedstead,  rod,  and  straw  bed 

2    6 

d. 


570 


APPENDIX. 


Green  Cheney  Coach  bed,  &c. 

Ditto  Easy  Chair    . 

Pallet  bedstead 

Bed,  1  Coylster,  2  pillows  No. 

pr.  Sheets 

pr.  Blankets  . 
1  old  Quilt 

1  pr.   Chest  drawers,  1  Grate,  &  6  small  Turkey,  3 
work  chairs,  at  20/  and  10/ 

Looking  glass 

Sell  skin  trunk 

old  trunk         .... 

pr.  calico  curtains  and  vallans 
1  pr.  red  Cheney  ditto 
1  pr.  bellows  with  brass  nose     . 
1  pr.  Dogs  with  brass  tops 
1  Fire  shovel  and  tongs,  1  brush,  &  Twilight  table 


£. 

s. 

30 

11 

1 

10 

9 

13 

1 

10 

2 

5 

15 

5 

18 

7 

10 

1 

5 

18 

2 

10 

4 

d. 


12 


18    G 


In  the  Kitchen  Chamber ;  viz.  :  — 


1  Bed,  1  bolster  No.  4 

. 

11  12 

1  pr.  Blankets 

2     5 

1  Ilugg,  1  Bedstead,  &  Straw  bed     . 

4 

Callico  curtains  and  vallans        .... 

2 

1  Head  cloth  &  Teaster 

15 

1  Table  10/,  1  Close  stool  pan  20/,  1  small  glass 

1  10 

In  the  Garret ;  viz.  :  — 

1  Old  bedstead  &  curtains           .... 

2 

1  Pilleon  &  case          ...... 

1 

1  Drugget  coat  ....... 

15 

Negroes  beds  &  bedding     ..... 

1  10 

In  the  Kitchen  :  — 

1  Pr.  brass  candlesticks     ..... 

1  10 

2  pr.  Ditto 

1  10 

1  pr.  ditto  broke 

3 

1  Brass  coffee  pot 

15 

2  Brass  skillets  . 

10 

1  Bell  mettle  ditto     . 

2  10 

1  Copper  tea  kettle    . 

1  10 

APPENDIX. 


571 


£.    s.   d. 


1  AVarming  pan 

1  Jack       ..... 

1  Doz.  hard  mettle  plates  . 

1  Doz.  ditto       .... 
6  Soup  Ditto,  a  4/7  . 

2  water  —         .... 

2  large,  1  smal  pewter  dish,  1  Large, 

Old  pewter         .... 

1  Brass  sauce  pan 

1  Brass  scimer  .... 

Tin  "Ware  ..... 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 


bajrs 


Doz.  patty  pans 
pr.  Bellows     .... 
pr.  Leather  fine  meeting  Buckets 
pr.  L'on  dogs  .         . 
pr.  tongs  and  fire  shovel 
Fender  &  Slice  .... 

2  Spitts  8/,  2  Gridirons  10/      . 

3  tramills  ..... 

2  Chafing  dishes  Q/,  %  skewer  2/ 

3  Iron  pots,  1  frying  pan,  2  Iron  kettles  & 
35  lbs.  Candles,  1/6    . 

3  brass  kettles  .... 

1  Doz.  Ivory  hafted  knives  &  forks 

2  Iron  candle  sticks  . 

Pr.  Boots         .... 

Small  ovel  Table    . 

Pine  ditto       .... 

Old  chairs       .... 

Lignumvite  pestle  &  mortar    . 

Wooden  Ware    .... 
5  coarse  table  cloths  &  ten  towels 

In  the  Cellar 

3  Barrells  Soap . 
%  Load  of  Bark 
2  Ceader  set  work  tubbs 
Lumbering  Stuff 
5  Empty  cider  barrels 
5  doz.  Cider  in  bottles  &  2  doz.  empty  ones 


small  soup  Do. 


pot  hooks 


10 
10 
15 
15 

7 
10 


4 
1     7 

18 

10 
1  10 
1 

12 

12 

18 

1  2 
8 

3 

2  12     6 
8  14 

4 
2 

15 
1  10 
10 
7     6 
1 

5 
1    7 


15 
15 
18 
10 
15 
10 


572 


APPENDIX. 


In  the  Warehouse  at  the  house:  — 

2  pots  of  Hoggs  fat,  wt.  18  lbs.  .... 

1  Barrel  pork 

Lumbering  stuff,  1  old  ladle  [the  rest  is  gone,  %  P^g®] 


£.   8.   d. 
18 


At  Mr.  Halsey  idiarf;  viz.:  — 
4  Cart  Horses 60 

1  Eiding  horse 17 

2  Carts .         .         .20 

3  old  cart  wheels,  1  sled    ......         2 

3  pr.  Hems  and  traces  for  horses       .         .         .         .         2  14 

In  ware  house,  my  wharf:  — 
1  Hhd.  Molasses,  100  Gal.  @  3/10 

4  bbl.  Turpentine 
29  pails,  1  Sugar  tub,  &  2  Caggs 

Old  rigging,  about  1  weight 
%  Spun  yarn     .... 

1  Empty  rum  Hhd.    . 

2  empty  barrels 
11  Saddle  Trees  .... 
15  Chalk 

Negro  Tony,      apprised 

"       Will,  " 

"       Bristol,  " 

"       Bristol  Jim,  " 
Limekiln,  wharf,  and  AYarehouses 
Dwelling  house,  barns,  buildings,  and  land 

Approximate  total         .....         £2973 

Captain  Pecker's  wife  was  Bridget  Papillion.  She  was  a  widow 
with  one  son,  Ebenezer,  when  she  married  Mi\  Pecker.  Her 
husband  was  an  English  gentleman. 

On  a  paper  found  with  the  will  was  written,  — 

"was  my  truly  worthy  and  dearly  beloved  James  Pecker, 

who  died  April  ye  8,  1734,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age,  in  the 
division  of  his  things  to  me,  his  widdow  Bridget  Pecker.  '  Open 
thou  my  eyes  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  of  thy  law.' 

"  Was  married  to  my  first  husband,  John  Papillion,  June  ye  7, 
1710,  bereaved  of  him  about  8  years  after.  He  died  in  London  ; 
left  one  only  son,  born  April  ye  9,  1712,  named  Ebenezer  Papil- 


19 

3 

7 

1 

12 

2 

3 

10 

10 

6 

1 

2 

3 

40 

80 

90 

100 

400 

1500 

APPENDIX. 


573 


lion,  who  grew  up  a  man,  followed  the  sea,  was  lost  at  sea,  I  don't 
know  how,  but  21  years  of  age.  Very  pleasant  were  these  to  me 
while  living :  the  loss  of  them  will  make  me  go  mourning  to  my 
grave." 


APPENDIX    B. 


EECAPITULATIOX   OF    "  WARRINGTON's  "   WRITINGS. 


As  Editor. 

Yeoman's  Gazette  and  Concord  Republican 
Lowell  Journal  and  Courier 
Manchester  (N.H.)  American    . 
Boston  Daily  AVhig  and  Republican 
Lowell  American 
The  Boston  Daily  Commonwealth 
The  Telegraph  .... 
Straight  Republican  (campaign  paper) 
Tocsin  "  " 

Reveille  '*  " 

Hartford  Courant       .... 
Concord  Monitor        .... 


As  Correspondent  and  Contributor. 
New- York  Evening  Post  ("Middlesex") 
Worcester  Spy,  in      . 
Springfield  Republican  ("  Warrington  ") 
Daily  Evening  Traveller     . 
Fitchburg  Reveille     .... 
New-York  Tribune  ('•  Gilbert"  and  "Warrington") 
Worcester  Transcript  ("  Boythorn  ") 
Daily  Atlas  and  Bee  . 
Zion's  Herald     . 
Congregationalist 
Hartford  Press  ("  Kremlin  ") 
California  Paper 
Commonwealth  (Mr.  Slack's),  supplied  material  for 
Atlantic   Monthly,   December,  1871,    Gen.   Butler's 

Campaign  in  ^Massachusetts 
Boston  Journal :  Wendell  Phillips;  a  Review 
Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  reviewed 


1839-1842 

1842-1849 

1845-1846 

1848-1849 

1849-1854 

1854 

1854-1857 

1857 

18G1,  1862 

1870 

1868 

1868 


1853 
1856, 1863 
1856-1876 

1857 
1857-1858 
1857-1869 
1857-1860 
1860-1861 


1865 

1864 

1862-1876 


1870 
1871-1872 


574 


APPENDIX. 


Boston  Journal :  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  reviewed  again    . 

Articles  ...... 

Butler 

Boston  News  ("Warrington"),  Letters  and  Articles 
Woman's  Journal 

Pamplilets. 
Conspiracy  to  defame  John  A.  Andrew 
Legislative  ........ 

Concord  and  Sudbury  Meadows  .... 

Ex-Governor  Boutwell  and  Judge  Thomas 
Sustain  the  Government;  Stand  by  the  President 
Miscellaneous     ........ 

Salary  Grab 

Addresses,  Mejnorials,  Sfc. 
Personal -liberty  Bill,  Memorial  and  Report 
Republican  State  Addresses 
Republican  State  Resolutions     . 
Free-ballot  Memorials 
Woman-suffrage  IMemorials  and  Reports 
Ayer's  Almanac  (reading-matter) 
Appleton's  Cyclopaedia 
Manual  of  Parliamentary  Law  . 


1873 
1873 

1874 
1875-1876 


18G1 
18G1 
1861 
1862 
1862 
1860-1870 
1874 


1861 
1861-1867 
1861-1867 


1875 


OFFICIAL   HISTORY. 

Member  of  IVIassachusetts  House  of  Representatives 
Secretary  of  Constitutional  Convention 
Clerk  of  Committee  on  Revision  of  Statutes 
Clerk  of  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives 
Secretary  of  Republican  State  Committee . 
Justice  of  the  Peace  and  of  the  Quorum    . 


1852-1853 

1853 

1859 

1862-1873 

1863-1867 

1865 


APPENDIX  C. 

[July  7,  1842.] 
COURT   OF   COMMON   PLEAS.  —  BUTLER. 

Elbridge  G.  Record  of  Lowell  was  charged  with  passing  coun- 
terfeit money.  The  examination  of  this  man  and  his  brother  before 
the  Police  Court  was  reported  in  "  The  Courier  "  a  few  days  ago; 


APPEXDIX.  hlb 

and  I  need  not  state  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  But  a  i-ather 
amusing  and  interesting  scene  (to  use  no  other  epithets)  took  place 
at  the  trial  of  Elbridge,  which  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  chronicle. 
Tlie  indictment  charged  the  prisoner  with  defrauding  Sarah  AV'il- 
kins.  ]\Irs.  "Wilkins  testified  that  her  name  was  Sarah  Emma  Wil- 
kins,  and  that  she  had  a  husband  living.  She  could,  therefore,  not 
be  defrauded.  Mr.  Butler  of  Lowell,  the  prisoner's  counsel,  called 
the  attention  of  the  court  to  these  flaws  in  the  indictment,  and 
asked  for  an  acquittal.  Some  conversation  ensued  between  the 
judge,  district-attorney,  and  Mr.  Butler;  but  the  objections  of  Mr. 
Huntington  were  overruled,  and  the  jury  were  directed  to  bring  in 
a  verdict  of  acquittal.  They  did  so;  and  Mr.  Butler  immediately 
moved  that  the  prisoner  be  discharged.  Mr.  Huntington  objected, 
but  evidently  had  no  gi-ound  for  doing  so.  Mr.  Butler  made  some 
remark  about  the  objection  being  made  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
out  another  warrant.  The  judge  said  he  believed  he  must  order 
the  prisoner  to  be  discharged.  The  words  were  hardly  out  of  his 
mouth,  and  the  clerk  had  not  repeated  the  order  for  his  discharge, 
when  Mr.  Butler  opened  the  door  of  the  prisoner's  box,  and  hurried 
Record  out  of  the  house,  saying,  "Go  along,  and  go  as  quick  as 
you  can."     The  prisoner  sloped  immediately. 

!Mr.  Shed  was  observed  to  follow  Record  out  of  the  court-house, 
and  it  was  shrewdly  expected  that  the  rogue  would  not  go  far  off. 
Mr.  Butler,  whose  duties  as  counsel  did  not  cease  with  the  acquittal 
of  his  client,  rushed  out  of  the  house  in  a  comfortable  state  of 
excitement  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  what  was  going  on. 
With  the  laudable  desire  of  "  jotting  down  "  whatever  of  interest 
might  occur,  I  walked  down  staiis.  I  saw  nothing  of  Record;  and 
the  only  part  of  Mr.  Butler  which  I  noticed  was  his  hat,  Mhich  he 
had  lost  in  his  "  neck-or- nought "  race,  and  which  was  lying  on 
the  steps  of  the  court-house.  I  looked  toward  the  hotel,  and 
observed  the  learned  counsel  declaiming  vigorouslj'  to  the  crowd 
which  had  gathered  around  him,  so  absorbed  in  the  interests  of 
his  client,  that  he  probably  forgot  his  hatless  condition.  I  after- 
wards learned  that  ^Ir.  Shed  had  arrested  Record  without  author- 
ity, and  Mr.  Butler  obtained  his  release. 

Record  went  his  way;  but  it  was  a  very  little  way,  after  all.  A 
warrant  had  been  procured  for  his  arrest,  and  he  was  recaptured 
by  Charley  Adams  and  Deputy- She  riff  Lewis  near  "Walden  Pond, 
about  a  mile  from  the  village.  The  district-attorney  will  probably 
take  care  that  «o  flaws  shall  be  made  in  the  next  indictment 
against  the  young  man.     I  appreciate  greatness  wherever  I  see  it 


576  APPENDIX. 

manifested;  and  INIr.  Butler  in  this  trial  certainly  showed  himself 
to  be  a  great  man.  Perhaps  his  greatness  is  not  of  the  liighest 
order;  neither  was  Bonaparte's  :  but  who  will  dispute  the  claim  of 
the  latter  to  be  called  great?  The  opening  of  the  prison-doors  by 
Mr.  Butler  without  permission  might  perhaps  be  called  a  some- 
what outrageous  proceeding;  but  it  would  be  called  so  only  by 
those  who  would  blame  Cromwell  for  dissolving  the  Rump  Parlia- 
ment, or  Governor  Dorr  for  organizing  the  Foundry  Legislature. 

W.  S.  R. 


APPENDIX  D. 

[1849.] 
"A   WEEK   OX   THE    COXCORD    AND    MERRIMACK   RIVERS." 

We  have  copied  above  the  title  of  a  book:  for  one  reason,  be- 
cause it  will  make  as  good  a  caption  as  any  thing  else  to  what  we 
have  to  say  in  this  place;  and  another,  because  we  may  say  some- 
thing upon  a  book  which  has  been  kindly  lent  us  by  a  friend.  "We 
mention  the  fact  that  the  volume  was  loaned  to  us,  because  it  is  a 
rare  occurrence  for  us  to  borrow  a  book,  and  may  be  set  down  as 
an  epoch  in  our  life  —  almost.  When  we  saw  the  title  with  "  Con- 
cord River  "  upon  it,  our  thoughts  were  carried  back  to  the  days 
of  our  boyhood,  when  we  used  to  go  thither  with  our  fishing- 
tackle  to  catch  whatever  chose  to  nibble  at  our  bait.  We  don't 
know  as  we  were  enough  of  a  fisherman  to  have  the  epithet  be- 
stowed upon  us  which  was  somewhere  given  to  the  appendage  of  a 
fishing-pole;  viz.,  "  a  string  at  one  end,  and  a  fool  at  the  other:  " 
but  we  have  caught  some  fish  in  our  day;  had  some  glorious 
nibbles;  but  never  have  we,  like  Simon  in  the  New  Testament, 
"  toiled  all  night,  and  taken  nothing."  In  speaking  of  the  fishing 
Mhich  was  formerly  carried  on  in  Concord  River,  we  iiotice  that 
Mr.  Thoreau  has  hinted  at  a  circumstance  of  a  militia-captain  —  we 
believe  his  name  was  Miles  —  who  neglected  to  appear  to  meet  his 
company,  having  gone  a-fishing  at  the  time  tliey  were  "warned 
to  appear,"  and  that  thenceforth  the  said  company  always  went  by 
the  name  of  "  The  Shad ;  "  and  so  the  name  stuck  like  scales  to  all 
the  militia  in  the  region.  We  are  glad  to  see  honorable  mention 
made  of  that  corps.  What  Concord  boy  has  not  followed  "  The 
Shad  "  round  town  to  listen  to  the  drum  and  fife  and  other  pieces 
of  music,  not  heeding  where  he  trod,  till  some  careless  barefooted 
fellow  would  hit  his  toe  against  a  stone,  and  then,  catching  the 


APPENDIX.  577 

mangled  toe  in  his  hand,  would  hop  along  till  the  toe  aforesaid 
came  to  its  senses  ?  Glad  are  we  that  the  memory  of  "  The  Shad  " 
is  perpetuated  in  so  pleasant  a  book. 

It  may  be  said  of  this  book  as  the  author  says  of  great  poems, 
"  It  is  characteristic  of  great  poems,  that  they  will  yield  of  their 
sense  in  due  proportion  to  the  hasty  and  the  deliberate  reader. 
To  the  practical  they  will  be  common  sense;  and  to  the  w'ise, 
wisdom:  as  either  the  traveller  may  wet  his  lips,  or  au  army  may 
fill  its  water-casks,  at  a  full  stream." 

GOOD-NATURE. 
"By  hook  or  bj»crook." 
Dame  Grundy  was  the  most  good-natured  woman  alive.  Come 
what  would,  everything  was  right, — nothing  wrong.  One  day 
Farmer  Grundy  (husband  to  the  dame)  told  a  neighbor  that  his 
■wife  was  the  most  even-tempered  woman  in  the  world;  for  he  never 
saw  her  cross  in  his  life,  and  that,  for  once,  he  should  like  to  see 
her  so.  "  Well,"  said  his  neighbor,  "  go  into  the  woods,  and  bring 
home  a  load  of  the  crookedest  wood  you  can  find;  and,  if  that  does 
not  make  her  cross,  nothing  wilL"  Accordingly,  to  try  the  experi- 
ment, he  teamed  home  a  load  of  wood  every  day  calculated  to 
make  a  woman  fret.  For  a  week  or  more,  she  used  the  wood  copi- 
ously; but  not  a  word  of  complaint  escaped  her  lips.  So,  one  day, 
the  husband  ventured  to  inquire  of  her  how  she  liked  tiie  wood. 
*'  Oh,  'tis  beautiful  wood!  "  she  said.  "  I  wish  you'd  get  another 
load;  for  it  fays  round  the  pot  complete." 

BAKED    BKAX8. 

The  town  of  Beverly  has  had  the  reputation  of  cooking  a  good 
many  beans;  so  much  so,  that  its  inhabitants  have  been  called 
"beaners."  Charlestown,  also,  has  had  similar  honors.  We 
recollect,  some  twenty  years  since,  wlien  we  ventured  within  the 
precincts  of  liostou  from  Charlestown,  we  were  frequently  beset  by 
Bcston  boys  with  the  appellation  of  "pig."  We  have  an  anec- 
dote pat  to  the  purpose;  and  here  it  is  :  — 

Page,  the  driver  of  the  Beverly  stage,  was  one  day  taking  in  a 
fleshy  lady-passenger  in  Charlestown  Square,  when  a  truckman 
came  along  and  said,  "  Get  out  of  the  way  with  your  old  bean- 
pot!"  Page,  who  had  hold  of  the  lady's  arm,  turned  round  and 
made  answer,  "  Wait  a  minute  till  I  get  mv  pork  in." 

E.  G.  K. 


678  APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX   E. 

A   VILLAGE   POLITICIAN. 

From  "The  Carpet-Bag." 

Deacon  Jonas  Jenkins  is  in  the  corner  grocery-store,  surround- 
ed by  loafers.  Eldad  Grimes,  Elnathan  Dodge,  and  others,  are 
there,  sitting  on  "  quintals  of  codfish,"  and  chewing  the  quid.  Tlie 
deacon  is  reading  from  the  newspaper  what  Prof.  M.  said  in  his 
speech  on  accepting  the  nomination  for  Congress.  Said  the  dea- 
con, "  He  was  brought  in,  accepted  the  nomination,  thanked  the 
delegates,  and  then  went  on  to  enlarge  upon  political  topics."  — 
"  Well,"  said  Elnathan  Dodge,  "  let's  hear  what  he  had  to  say. 
How  is  he  on  the  tariff?"  —  "You'll  see,"  said  the  deacon, 
rather  crusty  at  being  interrupted.  "  Can't  you  wait  a  minute?  " 
He  went  on  to  read,  "  Rejoiced  to  meet  his  friends;  glorious 
Whig  cause;  cause  of  the  country;  star  that  never  sets;  factious 
opposition;  all  they  want  is  office."  —  "That's  a  fact,"  said 
Dodge.  "  What  d'ye  spose  they  care  about  the  niggers?  "  —  "De- 
pression of  agricultural  interest;  tariff  on  wool;  quacks;  pyre- 
tenders  driven  from  power."  —  "That's  just  what  he  said,"  said 
Deacon  Jenkins;  "for  I  heerd  him."  —  "Well,  you,  he's  smart, 
ain't  he?  "  said  the  Scrabbleville  baker,  who  had  driven  up,  and 
was  now  making  one  of  the  crowd.  The  deacon  proceeded: 
"  Union  of  the  States;  palsied  be  the  arm;  traitors;  Gen.  Jack- 
son; hemp;  stars  and  stripes,  &c.  Oh,  how  he  gave  it  to  'em 
then!"  said  the  deacon.  In  this  way  he  closed  the  speech, 
and  approached  the  conclusion  of  the  article,  which  ran  somehow 
thus:  "  We  are  rejoiced  to  learn  that  Prof.  M.  has  yielded  to 
the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends,  and  will  forthwith  take  the 
field  in  support  of  the  good  'Whig  cause.  He  will  address  his 
fellow-citizens  in  the  principal  towns  in  the  district  previous  to 
the  election.  We  call  upon  the  committees  to  make  active  prepa- 
rations for  large  meetings.  Let  the  people  far  and  near  hear  our 
eloquent  champion,  and  we  have  no  fear  of  the  result;  for 

"  One  blast  upon  his  bugle-horn 
Is  worth  a  thousand  men." 

"  How's  that,  deacon?  "  broke  out  several  of  his  auditors  at  the 
close.  "What  does  that  mean?"  —  "  Oh  1  that's  right,  that's 
right,"  said  the  deacon:  "  it's  just  so.     I  understand  he's  the  best 

bugle-player  in  the  State  of  Vermont!  " 

Bailey  Junior. 


APPENDIX.  579 


APPENDIX   F. 

AUTOGBAPH-LETTEB    FROM     ABRAHAM     LINCOLN,    IN    POSSESSION 
OF   W.    S.    R. 

Springfield  III.,  April  6,  1859. 

Messrs.  Henry  L.  Pierce  and  Others.  Genllemen, — Your 
kind  note  inviting  me  to  attend  a  festival  in  Boston  on  the  13th 
inst.,  in  honor  of  the  birthday  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  was  duly 
received.  My  engagements  are  such,  that  I  cannot  attend.  Bear- 
ing in  mind,  that,  about  seventy  years  ago,  two  gi'eat  political 
parties  were  first  formed  in  this  country,  that  Thomas  Jefferson 
was  the  head  of  one  of  them,  and  Boston  the  headc^uarters  of  the 
other,  it  is  both  curious  and  interesting  that  those  supposed  to 
descend  politically  from  the  party  opposed  to  Jefferson  should  now 
be  celebrating  his  birthday  in  their  own  original  seat  of  empire, 
while  those  claiming  political  descent  from  him  have  nearly  ceased 
to  breathe  his  name  everywhere. 

Remembering,  too,  that  the  Jefferson  party  were  formed  ui~>on 
their  supposed  superior  devotion  to  the  personal  rights  of  men, 
holding  the  rights  of  propertij  to  be  secondary  only,  and  greatly 
inferior,  and  then  assuming  that  the  so-called  Democracy  of  to-day 
are  the  Jefferson,  and  their  opponents  the  anti-Jefferson  parties, 
it  will  be  equally  interesting  to  note  how  completely  the  two  have 
changed  hands  as  to  the  principle  upon  which  they  were  originally 
supposed  to  be  divided.  The  Democracy  of  to-day  holds  the  liberty 
of  our  men  to  be  absolutely  nothing  when  in  conflict  with  another 
man's  right  of  property.  Republicans,  on  the  contrary,  are  for 
both  the  man  and  the  dollar;  but,  in  cases  of  conflict,  the  man 
before  the  dollar. 

I  remember  once  being  much  amused  at  seeing  two  partially 
intoxicated  men  engage  in  a  light  with  their  great-coats  on;  which 
fight,  after  a  long  and  rather  harmless  contest,  ended  in  each 
having  fought  himself  out  of  his  own  coat,  and  into  that  of  the 
other.  If  the  two  leading  parties  of  this  day  are  really  identical 
with  the  two  in  the  days  of  Jefferson  and  Adams,  they  have  per- 
formed about  the  same  feat  as  the  two  drunken  men. 

But,  soberly,  it  is  now  no  cliild's  play  to  save  the  principles  of 
Jefferson  from  total  overthrow  in  this  nation.  One  would  start 
with  great  confidence  that  he  could  convince  any  sane  child  that 
the  simple  propositions  of  Euclid  are  true;  but,  nevertheless,  he 
would  fail  utterly  with  one  who  should  deny  the  definitions  and 


580  APPENDIX. 

axioms.  The  principles  of  Jefferson  are  the  definitions  and  axioms 
of  free  society;  and  yet  they  are  denied  and  evaded  with  no  small 
show  of  success.  One  dashingly  calls  them  "glittering  generali- 
ties;" another  bluntly  calls  them  "self-evident  lies;"  and  still 
others  insidiously  argue  that  they  apply  only  to  "  superior  races." 

These  expressions,  differing  in  form,  are  identical  in  object  and 
effect, — the  supplanting  the  principles  of  free  government,  and 
restoring  those  of  classification,  caste,  and  legitimacy.  They  would 
delight  a  convocation  of  crowned  heads  plotting  against  the  peo- 
ple. They  are  the  vanguard,  the  miners  and  sappers,  of  returning 
despotism.     We  must  repulse  them,  or  they  will  subjugate  us. 

This  is  a  world  of  compensations,  and  he  who  would  he  no  slave 
must  consent  to  have  no  slave.  Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others 
deserve  it  not  for  themselves,  and,  imder  a  "just  God,  cannot  long 
retain  it.  All  honor  to  Jefferson;  to  the  man,  who,  in  the  concrete 
pressure  of  a  struggle  for  national  independence  by  a  single  people, 
had  the  coolness,  forecast,  and  capacity  to  introduce  into  a  merely 
revokitionary  document  an  abstract  truth,  applicable  to  all  men  and 
all  times,  and  so  to  embalm  it  thei'e,  that  to-day,  and  in  all  coming 
days,  it  shall  be  a  rebuke  and  a  stumbling-block  to  the  very 
harbingers  of  re-appearing  tyranny  and  oppression  ! 
Your  obedient  servant, 

A.    LiXCOLN. 


ll^DEX. 


A. 

Abbott,  Josiah  G.,  20,  42,  360  (.see  Free- 
Soil  party). 

Abolitionists.  27 ;  meeting  of  (1853),  190 
(see  Garrison,  William  Lloyd). 

Adams,  Charles  Francis,  3S,  39,  46,  47, 
183,  lh4,  204,  205,  232,  543;  biography 
of,  415. 

Adams,  Henry,  410. 

Adams,  John  Quincv,  19,  29,. 266;  (the 
younger),  136,  309,  334,  313;  biogra- 
phy of,  419. 

Adams,  Rev.  Nehemiah,  211,  297. 

Adams,  Shubaol  P.,  46. 

Advertiser,  Boston  Daily,  133,  200,  229. 

Alcolt,  A.  iironson,  66. 

Alcott,  Ahbv  ii.,  116,  403. 

Allen,  Charles.  30,  187,  194,  517;  biog- 
raphy of,  415. 

Alley,  John  B.,  60, '.'.35. 

American  (see  Know-Nothing)  party. 

Amerige,  lleni-y,  129. 

Andrew,  John  A.,  election  of,  93,  521; 
position  on  the  Vir^nia  Peace  Com- 
mission, 94  ;  conspu'acy  to  defame, 
95;  re-election  of,  110;  spealis  on 
the  removal  of  .ludgo  Loring,  2.30; 
accu.sation  against  him  of  being  a 
"  conilitional  i>alriot,''  274;  niinibcr 
of  votes  cast  for,  in  differeut  years, 
339,  340;  biogr.iphy  of,  406. 

Antietam.  liattle  of,  '.'SO,  'J83. 

Antislavery  (political)  niovemeiit,  begin- 
ning of,  28,  3.'),  46,  47;  progress  of, 
U3.  227-2.3G.  483  (.fee  Free-Soil  party). 

Anti.slavery  society  in  Concord,  73. 

Appleton,  Nallian,  29,  .")29. 

Arm-in-arm  Convention  (Philadelphia, 
law,),  3i)S. 

Aspinwall,  William,  250,310. 

Atlas  and  Bee,  The,  early  antislavery 
newspaper,  84,  92,  98. 

Ayer.  Dr.  James  C,  86;  biogr.iphy  of, 
422. 

Baldwin,  John  D.  (editor  of  Worcester 

Spy),  60,  83. 
Baltimore  Convention  (1840),  19. 


Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  20,  58,  194,  216,  220, 
222,  225,  254,  360 ;  biography  of,  435. 

Bartlett,  Dr.  Josiah,  4,  560. 

Bartol,  Rev.  C.  A.,  remarks  of,  at "  War- 
rington's "  funeral,  167. 

Bayard,  T.  F.,  395,  396. 

Be.aufort,  landing  at,  271. 

Beeclier.  Heniy  Ward,  biography  of  (in 
1864),  454. 

Bell-Kvorett  party,  243,  245. 

Beniis,  G.  F.,  14. 

Bigelow,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  E.  (see  Sha- 
drach,  rescue  of). 

Biglow  Papers,  45. 

Bird  Club,  96.  134,  425  (see  Bird,  F.  W.). 

Bii-d,  Francis  W.,  reminiscences  of 
"  Warrington."  xiv ;  17, 18,  38,  62.  83, 
86,  106,  116,  121,  126,  130,  144,  221,  222, 
209,  304 ;  biography  of,  423. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  395. 

Blair,  Frank,  136,  323. 

Bootli.  J.  Wilkes,  307. 

Boston  <itv  election  of  1871,  349. 

Boston  sihool  connnitteo  in  1874,  379. 

Boutwell,  George  S..  20,  194,  198,315,  316, 
360,  381,  384;  biography  of,  429. 

Bowles,  Samuel.  38,  sj,  83,  ilO,  100, 115, 133 
(see  "  Warrington  "  letters). 

"  Bovthorn  "  letters,  86  (.see  Appen- 
dix B). 

Bra/.calle,  F.lisba  (s^e  Sharkey,  Judge). 

Bicwstcr.  William  K.,  46. 

Brooks  (lake,  rrcipe  for,  74. 

BrooUs,  Malhiin  and  Mary  M.,  20,  72,  75. 

Brooks,  Preston  S..  65. 

Brown,  John,  71,  90.  237-240. 

Buchanan,  James,  64,  251,  255,  323,  385, 
417. 

Buffinn,  James  N.,  184. 

Bullock,  Ale,\ander  Ji.,  reminiscences  of 
"  \V  arrington,"  xi ;  105,  409. 

Bull  Run,  battle  of,  96,  267. 

Bumstead.  Represenlalive  (the  typical 
ofhce-seeker),  198;  liiography  of,  455. 

Burluigame,  Anson,  ^i(l^raphv  of ,  427. 

ISurns,  Antonv,  rendition  ot,  62,  206,  211. 

Burriit,  Klihu".  20. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  position  in  the 
Harrison  campaign,  20 ;  cx-major- 
general,  103;  elected  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  1S52,  54;  his  mid  on  the 
governorship  of  M.issachusetts,  130- 
144;  letter  from,  to  "Warrington," 

681 


582 


IXDEX. 


131 ;  ground  for  Ms  attack  on  "  War- 
ringtou,"  103,  133;  defeated  in  con- 
vention, 134 ;  defeats  '■  Warrington  " 
as  clerk,  137,  359-365;  the  "salary- 
grab  "  business,  112;  second  raid  on 
the  governorship,  143;  flnal  defeat, 
144;  wealth  of  London,  371;  in  the 
Johnson  impeachment  tiial,  315; 
position  in  1873,  450 ;  status  in  1874, 
378,381,  3s3;  prediction  concerning, 
399;  political  history  of,  430-440;  re- 
ply of  "  VVan-ington  "  to,  440  ;  as 
"judge  and  executioner"  of  the 
RepubUcan  partv,  443;  life  of.  440; 
his  character,  362.  439,  441,  450;  his 
epitaph,  453  (see  Appendix  C). 

Butler  campaisn,  first  gun  fired  in,  126; 
review  of,  130-144  (see  Butler.  B.  F.). 

Butler  and  anti-Butler  men  in  1872,  360. 

Butler,  who  killed?  131,  134,  138,  143, 144, 
310. 

c. 

Carlsbad,  Austria,  Letter  from,  376. 

Carpet-bag  {see  Stebbings,  Ensign;  also 
Shillaber,  B.  P.),  Appendix  E. 

Carter,  Robert,  60,  CI,  k3,  89. 

Channing,  William  Elleiy,  66. 

Channing,  William  Henrv,  29,  461. 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  .319,  322. 

Choate,  Kuf  us,  63, 185, 191,  2&4, 289;  biog- 
raphy of,  457. 

Cincinnati  Convention  of  1872, 135,  136, 
358. 

Civil-service  reform  and  a  Democratic 
restoration,  345. 

Clapp,  W.  W.  (editorof  Boston  Journal), 
133,  140,  173. 

Clarke,  Dr.  E.  H.,  373,  560. 

Clarke,  Rev.  James  Freeman,  346,  365, 
308,  462. 

Clay,  Henry,  and  his  compromises,  1S7. 

Clemmer,  Mrs.  Marj',  obituary  on  "  War- 
rington." 178. 

Clifford,  John  H.,  146. 

Cobum,  John  P.,  72. 

Co-education  of  the  sexes  {see  Harvard 
College). 

Cogswell  family,  history  of,  3-7. 

Colored  regiments,  formation  of,  98.  107, 
298;  how  they  look,  292;  "Negro 
ready  to  fight  for  freedom."  205; 
colored  recruits,  and  "conditional 
patriotism,"  274. 

Commonwealth,  Boston  Daily,  60 ;  selec- 
tions from,  206. 

Concord,  ]\Iass.,  1,  15,  19, 29,  65,  66, 71,  75. 

Congress  in  1842,  26. 

"  Conquering  prejudices,"  190. 

Conscience  Whigs,  35,  36,  38  (see  Whig 
party). 

"Consolation  of  Asses."  201. 

Constitution  explained  to  beginners,  202. 

Constitution  of  1853,  defeat  of,  203. 

Conway,  M.  D.,  106. 

Copperhead  Democracy,  302  (see  Demo- 
cratic partv). 

Couraut.  Hartford,  119. 

Crane,  Zenas  M..  104. 

Cui-tis,  George  T.,  191, 192. 


Curtis,  Harriot  (see  Lowell  Offering), 
Cushing,  Caleb,  194,  205,  250,  264,  407, 
413. 

D. 

Dana.  Richard  H.,  jun.,  486;  biography 
of,  464. 

Davis.  Charles  G.,  221. 

Davis,  .Jefferson,  96, 110,  288, 2S9,  306,  312, 

Davis,  John.  56. 

Davis,  Mrs.  Mary  (of  Concord),  4,  5. 

Dawes,  Heiu-j-  L.,  134,  300 ;  biography  of, 
471. 

Democratic  party,  20;  standing  during 
the  war,  288;  civil-service  reform  in, 
(1871),  343;  probable  Democratic  re- 
action (1874).  384;  chances  for  a 
Democratic  victory  in  1870,  392,  397 ; 
record  of,  393  (see'Rantoul,  Robert; 
also  see  reform  pait>'). 

Derby.  George  H.  {see  Phoenix,  John). 

Dial,  "the,  10. 

Dickens,  Charles,  29,  341. 

Digg,  E.  Goethe,  his  toast,  531. 

Disiaeli,  Benj.amin,  370. 

"  Doughfaces,"  97,  256, 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  241;  biography  of, 
466, 

Douglass,  Frederick,  40;  biogi-aphy  of, 
468. 

Downer,  Samuel,  60.  489,  501. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  231,  232. 

Drew,  Thomas,  104,  152,  305. 


E. 

Farie,  .John  M.,  120. 

Eliot,  Charles  \V,  {see  Hai-vard  College). 

Elwood,  jNIichael  (see  Supreme  Judicial 
Court), 

Emancipation,  96-98;  Proclamation  of, 
108,  109,  111,  280-290, 

Emerson,  R,  AV.,  how  related  to  "  War- 
rington," 3;  moves  to  Concord,  15; 
Divinity-School  address,  16;  first 
book  printed,  17 ;  essays  first  appear, 
21  (see  Concord). 

Emigrant  Aid  Society  (New  England),  75. 

Evarts,  William  M.,  525. 

Evening  Post,  New-York,  68 ;,  selections 
from,  203, 

Everett,  Edward,  13,  245,  248,  257. 


F. 

Farlev,  Harriet  {see  Lowell  Offering). 

Fav,  judge  S.  P.  P.,  4. 

Fillmore,  Millard.  3.5.  45,  189, 

Foley,  ^largaret  (see  LoweU  Offering). 

"  Food  for  politicians,"  197. 

Forbes,  John  M.,  288. 

Fort  Wagner,  Fifty-Fourth  Regiment 
at.  296, 

Free-SoU  party,  formation  of,  30,  37, 183, 
187;  conventions  and  movements  of , 
35,  38,  39,  42,  45-48,  54,  64 ;  review  of, 
35-77;  resolution  written  for  iii.1848 


INDEX. 


583 


by  "WaiTington,"  38;  list  of  Free- 
Soil  Deu.ocratic  pa[)er.s.  43;  becomes 
the  "  Straight -Rei)\iblican"  party. 
64;  coutemls  agaiiist  Fugitive-slavi; 
Law,  1S'J-21:5,  228;  reminisce7ices  of 
its  leaders,  400-405 ;  its  work,  416, 417, 
427,  483. 

Fremont,  John  C,  64,  269. 

Frje,  Isa.ic  W.,  406. 

Fugitive-slave  Law,  signinc;  of,  45;  char- 
acter and  eflfect  of,  189.  196;  work- 
ings of.  206-213,  22»  (see  Loriug,  Ed- 
ward G). 

Fuller,  Margaret,  16,  67. 

Fultou,  Kev.  J.  D.,  341. 


G. 

Gardner  and  Gardnerism  (1855),  61,  83, 
214,  225.  2:{2,  243,  334. 

Garrison,  William  I^lovd.  and  the  G.irri- 
sonians,  28,  29, 38,  73, 118, 191, 199, 306, 
307.  40'',  4.S4;  biography  of,  482. 

Ga.stoii,  William,  387,  393. 

Gettvsl)urg,  battle  of,  294. 

Gidding.s,  Joshua  It.,  35,  183,  184,  187 
(sec  Free-Soil  partv). 

Gilford,  Stephen  N.,  105. 

"  Gilbert "  letters  (xei:  Tribune,  New- 
York,  Appendix  B.). 

Gilmori'.  Q.  \.  (of  New  H.ampshlre),  113. 

Gladstone,  William  K.,  309. 

Goddard  ]).  A.  (xcu  Advertiser,  Boston). 

Graham.  Rev.  John,  9. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  109;  election  to  the 
presidency,  120,  1.30;  review  of  his 
lirst  term,  354;  his  re-election,  130, 
354;  comparison  between  him  and 
Greeley,  355;  prospects  of  a  third 
term,  385,  392,  397;  biography  of, 
479. 

Graves,  John  W.  (see  Free-Soil  party). 

Gray,  William,  and  the  Boston  city  elec- 
tion of  1K7 1,349. 

Greeley.  Horace.  i;omination  to  the 
presidency,  l.'!5,  130;  comparison  be- 
tween hirn  and  Grant,  355;  biogra- 
phy of,  475. 

Grier,  Judge,  510. 

Griffin,  J.  Q.  A.,  120,  4.37,  530;  biography 
of,  4s.j. 

Gubci-jiatorial  votes  from  1,860  to  1870, 
summary  of,  339. 


H. 

Hale.  Charles,  214,  218. 

Hale,  John  I*..  30. 

Hallelt,  B.  F.,  191.  194,  207.  208,  248,  459. 

Hamilton-hall  meeting   (1873),  141,  143, 

144. 
Hamlin,  E.  L.  (of  Ohio),  184. 
Harrison  campaign,  19,  l'42. 
Harrison,  William  llenrv,  the  flret  WTiig 

Pi-esi.lcnt,  19. 
Harvard  College,  style  of  printing  their 

orderof  exercises(ls7l),351 ;  opposed 

to womau-siUfrage and  co-education, 
.      659. 


Haven,  Bishop  Gilbert,  16;  acfiuaint- 
ance  and  conti'oversies  with  •'  War- 
ringt«n,"  121.  127,  494;  position  in 
Butler  campaign,  132,  134:  obituaiy 
on  "Warrington,"  177;  biography 
of,  492. 

Hawley,  Joseph  B.,  119,  .561. 

Hawthonie,  Kathaniel,  21,  66. 

Hayden.  Lewis,  72.  400. 

Hayes,  J.  K.  (.sec  Shadrach,  rescue  of). 

Hazewell,  Charles  C  17,  44,  57,  &3,  70, 
83.  89,  1S7,  211.  283,  496;  obituary  of 
"  Wariington,"  173. 

Hendricks.  Thomas  A.,  322,  323. 

Heywood,  George,  6. 

Higginson.  Col.  T.  W.,  297. 

Hildrt^th.  Richard,  61. 

Hillard,  George  S.,  243.  246. 

Hoar,  Sanniel,  16,  38,  194. 

Hoar,  E.  Rockwood,  20,  29,  35,  132,  1,34, 
185,  427.  559,  501 ;  biograi.hy  of,  490. 

Hoar,  George  F.,  147, 155;  biography  of, 
491. 

Homrropathy  and  allopathy,  330. 

Hoosac  Tuniicl  and  the  lobby,  326. 

Howe.  Dr.  Estes,  80,  152.  305. 

Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  47, 00,  62,  247,  304, 
.358;  biography  of,  4s7. 

Humiliation  of  Ma.ssachusetts,  192. 

"Hunker,"  delinition  of,  283  (see  Peo- 
ple's party). 


Jackson,  William,  432. 

Jarvis,  Dr.  Edward,  9,  11. 

Jerry  rescue,  46. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  prospects  of  his  ad- 
ministration, 305,300;  his  presiden- 
tial tour.  311-315;  impeachment  of, 
31,5.317,  .321. 

Journalism,  54. 

Jury  Bill,  debate  on,  214. 


K. 

Kansas,  relief  of,  75.  84,  217. 

Keyes,  Kdwar.l  L,,  37,  185. 

ICeves,  John,  14. 

Kii'isky,  E.  W.,  124. 

Know-Xothing  party  (18.54),  character 
and  action  of.  63,  92,  214,  218,  226, 
302,  520  (see  Wilson,  Henrj). 


Larcom,  Lucy  {see  I/Jwell  Offering). 

L.iwrence,  Abbott,  204,  501,  529. 

Lawrence,  Amos  A.,  '2.57. 

Lawyers  and  doctoi-s.  51,  .53,  a30,  331. 

Liberty  party.  28,  38,  183,  4S3. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  nomination  of,  91,  95, 
241;  election  ot,  9.3,  245;  his  talk  of 
'•  saving  the  Union,''  278;  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation,  2Wi;  re-election 
of,  109,  301;  a»sa.v*inalion  of.  111, 
304 ;  biography  of,  498  (see  Appendix 
F). 


584 


INDEX. 


List,  Charles  {see  Commonwealth). 

Lobby  inliuence  and  log-rolling  in  the 
legislature,  326  (see  Hoosac  Tunnel). 

Locofoco  party,  22,  29,  l&l. 

London,  Letter  from,  368. 

Loring,  Edward  G.,  Judge,  action  in  the 
Burns  case,  02,  206,  208,  209;  re- 
moval of,  210,  227,  2.33.  413. 

Loring,  George  B..  230;  biography  of,  499. 

Lovejoy,  J.  C,  72,  183. 

Lowell  American,  42,  52,  55,  60;  selec- 
tions from,  187-202,  547. 

Lowell  Courier  and  Journal  (1842),  25, 
31,  37. 

Lowell  Offering,  editors  and  writers  of, 
28,  29. 

Lunt,  George,  213,  246,  248,  254,  290. 

Lyman,  Joseph  (see  Commonwealth). 

M. 

Maffit,  Rev.  John  Newland,  27. 
Manchester  (N.II.)  American  (1845),  29. 
Mann,  Horace,  47,  194,  487;    biography 

of,  501. 
Manomet  (near  Plymouth,   Mass.),  125, 

313. 
Man-stealers,  The,  46,  47,  02,  189. 
Manual  of  Parliamentary  Law,  "  AYar- 

rington's,"  155. 
Mason  and  Slidell  at  Fort  Warren,  272. 
Masonry, '"  Wanington's  "  opposition  to, 

13,  362. 
May,  Samuel  J.,  39, 116. 
McClellan,  George  B.,  109,  276,  277,  290, 

302. 
Meade,  Gen.  George  G.,  295. 
Medical  and  other  jargon,  330. 
Mexican  war,  30. 
Middlesex  club,  364. 
Middlesex-county  convention  (1842),  28. 
Miles,  Rev.  George  D.,  151. 
Missouri  Compromise,  92. 
Monitor,  Concord,  N.II.  (1864),  113. 
Monroe,  George  H.,  17,  135,  340,  378,  393; 

obituary  on  "  Warrinjycon,"  175. 
Morrill,  Ix)t  BI.,  325. 
Motley,  Thomas,  4.'^9. 
Munroe,  William,  11. 
Murray,  John,  and  Walter  Balfour,  16. 

N. 

Nasby,  Petroleum  "V.,  57. 
Nesniith.  .Tolm.  120. 
Norfolk  Adverliser(l)edham,  1837),  17. 
Northampton  water-cm-e,  158. 
Noyes,  Samuel  B.,  17. 

o. 

Old  editors,  review  of,  496. 
Ohio  election  of  1875,  394. 


P. 

Palfrey,  Dr.  J.  G.,  38,  47,  204,  232,  416,  517, 
643. 


Paris,  Letter  from,  371. 

Parker,  Dexter  F.,  230. 

Parkei-,  Joel,  283,  286. 

Parker,  S.  D.  (see  Burns,  rendition  of). 

Parker,  Theodore,  16,  40, 02,  199,  206,  207, 
210,  222;  biogiaphy  of,  500. 

Pecker,  James  (see  Cogswell  family), 
will  of.  Appendix  A. 

People's  party.  284. 

"  People's  Union,"  219. 

Personal-liberty  Act,  55,  93;  defeat  of, 
232. 

Petigru,  Justinian  (see  Political  .Situation 
in  1875). 

Phillips,  Stephen  C,  29,  30,  47,  232,  482, 
517,  543 ;  biography  of,  505  (see  Free- 
Soil  party). 

PhilHps,  Wendell,  46,  62.  71,  93,  98,  111, 
130,  131.  l:i9,  200,  207,  443,  444,  403, 
484,  .502,  .517 ;  biography  of,  502. 

Phoenix,  John  (George  H.'Derby),  23, 57, 
534. 

Pierce,  FrankUn  (President),  197,  543. 

Pierce,  Henry  L.,  8"),  80,  104,  221. 

Pillsburv.  Parker,  190, 484. 

Pitman,  Robert  C,  2.30,  3.35. 

P.  L.  L.  party  (a  liquor  organization), 
115,  .3.33-339,  421. 

Police,  St.ate,  histoiy  of,  336. 

Political  history  in  1801-62,  287;  from 
1808  to  1S71.  322-330.  333,  339,  343,  348 ; 
situation  in  1874,  380-386;  in  1875, 
386-390;  predicted  situation  in  1876, 
396,  399. 

Potter,  Robert  K.,  124. 

Pritchard,  Lieut.-Col.  B.  D.  (Fourth 
Michigan),  110. 

Prohibitory  Liquor  Law,  "  Warring- 
ton's"  opposition  to,  115;  history  of , 
333. 

,  R. 

Radical  Club,  461,  506. 

Rantoul,  Robert,  193,  194,  488;  biogra- 
phy of,  512. 

Redpath.  .James,  248 ;  obituary  on  "  War- 
rington." 1.53. 

Reform  party,  the  coming  (1876),  396. 

Republican,  Boston  D.aily,  39,  42,  60;  se- 
lections from,  185,  180,  503. 

Republieanj  Concord  (see  Yeomaji's  Ga- 
zette). 

Republican  party,  09;  conventions  of, 
03;  comes  iiito  power  (1802),  102; 
naming  of,  233;  predicted  effect  of 
Grant's  re-election  on,  357 ;  status 
in  1874,  380-386 ;  predictions  concern- 
ing its  conUnuance  in  power,  384, 
385.386;  " reform  inside  the  party" 
(1875).  387,  393  {see  reform  party). 

Republican,  Springfield  (.see  "  Warring- 
ton" letters,  and  Bowles,  Samuel). 

Reynolds,  Rev.  Grindall.  remarks  at 
"  Warrington's"  funeral,  109. 

Ripley,  Dr.,  2,  7,  14,  15,  CO,  500. 

Ripley,  Mrs.  Samuel,  491. 

Robinson  family,  histoiy  of,  2. 

Robinson,  Elbridge  Gerry  (brother  of 
"  AVarrington  ").  17;  "biograijhy  of, 
614  (see  Appendix  D). 


INDEX. 


585 


Robinson,  John  P.,  32. 
Bobinsou,   William    S.  (see   "Warring- 
ton"). 
RoclcweH,  Judge  Julius,  509. 
liodman,  Lieut.-Col.,  death  of ,  293. 
Rome,  letter  from,  371. 
Bussell,  George  It.,  20G. 
Kussell,  Thomas,  299,  428,  433. 


s. 


Salary  Grab,  pamphlet  written  in  1873, 
141  {see  Butler.  B.  F.). 

Saltonstall,  Ijeverett_,  95,  243. 

Sanborn,  F.  B.,  remini.«cences  of  "War- 
rington," ix;  71.  121,  144,  147,  248; 
obituaiT  of  '•  Warrington,"  172. 

Schouler,  William,  22,  25,  28,  31, 32 ;  biog- 
raphy of,  527. 

Schurz,  Carl,  reasons  for  supporting 
Greeley,  355;  inflation  platform  in 
Ohio,  .394;  dinner  given  to,  395;  first 
visit  to  Boston,  541. 

Scott,  James  (see  Slia<lrach,  rescue  of). 

Scott,  Gen.  Winlield,  90,  209. 

"Secesh  joint"  in  the  steamship  Missis- 
sippi, 97. 

Secret  societies,  rascalities  of,  218. 

Sewal),  Samuel  E.,  193,  20G,  432. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  323  (see  Democratic 
party). 

Seward,  William  H.,  232,  242,  27G,  417, 
524. 

Shadrach,  rescue  of,  40,  71,  191. 

Sharkey,  the  unjust  judge,  531. 

Shaw,  Col.  Robert  (i.,  ill,  293,  297. 

Shillaber,  B.  P.  (Mrs.  Partington),  57, 
147 ;  biography  of,  530. 

Sims  cxsc  (1)<51),  4G,  192,  193. 

Slack,  Charles  W.,  100,  379. 

Smith,  Gcrritt,  4114,  519. 

Smith,  Tliomas  P.  (see  Shadrach,  rescue 
of). 

Social  Circle  (Concord),  3,  4,  74,  76. 

Southeni  literature,  211. 

Spofford,  K.  S.,  .3119,  444. 

Spooner,  William  B.,  01,  335. 

Springliold  Republican  (.see  Republican) . 

Squatter  sovereignty,  92,  2.30. 

Stansbury,  E.  A.  (see  Free-Soil  party). 

Stanton.  Elizabeth  Cadv,  420. 

State  constabulary  (l.'-G(i),  history  of,  3.30. 

Statesmen  and  politicians,  distinction 
between,  3iO. 

Stearns,  George  L.,  94,  106,  299;  biogra- 
pliy  of,  522. 

Stebbings,  Ensign  Jehiel  (the  typical 
political  trinuner),  57;  how  lie  re- 
ceived the  vote  of  Maine,  244,  33?<, 
538 ;  biograpliy  of,  5:;3-541 ;  his  plat- 
form, 535;  "Shabbakin  Stebbings 
Club,  539. 

Stebbings  calculation  on  woman-suf- 
frage, 117. 

Stewart,  A.  T.,  435. 

Stone.  F.  M.,  1.38. 

Stone,  r.ucy,  463. 

Stowe,  William,  104,  121;  biography  of, 
525. 

Stxaigbt-Republican  party,  64,  86,  87,  94, 


220 ;  fate  of,  222  (see  Know-Nothing 
party). 

Stunii)-s|)oaking  inaugurated  in  New 
England,  20. 

Sumner,  ('liailes,  his  position  in  the 
antislavcrv  cause,  30,  40,  91,  184,  232; 
election  to  Congress.  55,  l'.)4, 220, 4.33; 
acquaintance  with  "'  Wamngton," 
56;  speaks  against  rendition  of 
Bums,  62;  assaulted  in  the  Senate, 
65,  210;  his  confidence  in  Lincoln, 
280,  284,  306 ;  opposition  to  him,  283 ; 
elected  for  the  third  time,  120,  126; 
letter  to  him  from  "Warrington" 
(1872),  351;  position  in  Butler  cam- 
paign, 133;  resolution  of  censure 
against,  136.  1.38.  305;  letters  to 
"  W.arrington,"  139,  146;  death,  150; 
reminiscences  of,  400,  402;  biogia- 
phy  of,  517. 

.Sumter,  Fort,  95. 

Supreme  Judicial  Court,  509  (see  Wheel- 
grease,  Judge). 

Swan,  Dr.  Caleb,  of  Easton,  221,  223, 429. 

Sweetser,  T.  H..  345. 

Swift,  John  L.,  206,  308,  420,  428. 


Tarbox,  John  K.,  393.  422. 

Taylor,  Charles  H.,  I.i7,  aj9. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  35,  45,  180. 

Telegraph,  Boston,  61;  selections  from, 

210-213. 
Texas,  annexation  of,  29,  30. 
Thayer,  Adin,  126. 
Tliaver,  Eli,  92. 
Tha'ver,  William  S.,  85. 
Thoma.^*,  Seth  J.,  192,  193,  208. 
Thompson.  Ch.arles  \'.,  391. 
Thorcau,  Henry  1).,  1,  12.  21,  67. 
Thoreau,  John  (father),  65,  68. 
Thoreau,  John  (son),  12,  21. 
Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  394-306. 
Tithingmen,  when  abolished,  15. 
Tocsin  (a  campaign  paper  in  1861),  93, 

94  98 
Toombs,  Robert,  214. 
Torrev,  Charles  T.,  25,  26. 
Train!  Charles  R.,  20. 
Transcendentalists,  The,  16. 
Traveller  consolidation,  S3,  84. 
Tremont-tomple  mob,  247. 
Tribune,  New- York,   "Gill>crt"  letters 

in,    82;    "Warrington"    letters   in, 

99,  114;  selections  from,  225,  24Y-253 

(see  Greeley,  Horace) . 


u. 

"Union-saving,"  96. 
Universalism  (see  Murray,  John), 


Van  Buren,  Martin,  35,  39. 
Vh-ginia  Peace  Commission,  94. 


586 


INDEX. 


W. 

"Waitt,  Caleb,  104. 

Wailaiid,  Joliii  H.  (see  Manchester 
Araeiioan). 

"VVanier,  Oliver,  114. 

War  of  the  rebellion,  opening  of,  05; 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  96,  2G7;  review 
of,  108-112,  253-001;  state  of  the 
country  in_1861,  253;  purpose  of,  25S; 
spirit  of  'the  people  tluring,  261 ; 
progress  of,  271 ;  landing  at  Beaufort. 
271 ;  "  in  war-time,"  277 ;  battle  of 
Antietam,  280.  283;  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  .80-2;  lO ;  battle  of  Get- 
tysburg, 294 ;  Fort  Wagner  and  the 
Fifty-fourth,  20G;  end  of  the  third 
year  of,  299 ;  South  Carolina's  posi- 
tion, 300;  end  of  the  war,  304. 

Warren,  William  Wirt,  346. 

"Warrington,"  aucestiy,  1-7;  how  re- 
lated to  R.  W.  Emereon.  3;  connec- 
tion with  Pliillips  and  Cogswell 
families,  4;  birth  (1818),  7;  early 
characteristics,  8;  boyliood,  8-11; 
early  education,  8;  a  "composition, 
9;  opinion  of  a  college  education, 
10, 11 ;  school-life,  11 ;  first  antislavc- 
ry  reading,  13;  attends  his  tirst 
convention  (anti-^Masonic),  13;  en- 
ters a  printinst-oflice,  14;  youth,  1.5- 
24;  church-going,  15;  works  "at  the 
case "  for  his  brother  in  Dedham, 
and  writes  his  first  article,  17 ;  editor 
of  the  Yeoman's  Gazette  in  Con- 
cord, 18;  abolition  opinions, 19;  Whig 
delegate  to  Baltimore  Convention  of 
1840,  19;  character  of  his  news- 
paper, 21;  sells  it  (1842),  and  writes 
his  "  last  words,"  22 ;  becomes  assist- 
ant editor  of  the  Lowell  Courier 
and  Journal,  25;  a  Wasliington  cor- 
respondent, 25;  opposition  to  the 
"  Texas  iniquity,"  29;  edits  the  Man- 
chester (N.H.)' Ameiican.  29;  takes 
full  charge  of  the  Courier,  31;  his 
appearance  and  characteristics  in 
1846,  32;  his  prospects  in  184n,  35; 
position  on  the  sliivery  question,  36; 
leaves  the  Courier,  and  becomes 
editor  of  the  Boston  Republican, 
37;  first  acquaintance  with  Samuel 
Bowles,  38;  marriage,  40;  leaves  the 
Republican,  and  becomes  editor  of 
the  Lowell  American,  41.  42.44-52; 
home-life,  48;  sickness.  50;  his  opin- 
ion of  the  law,  53;  of  journalism,  .54; 
elected  to  the  legislature  of  1852, 
54;  connection  with  the  Carpet-Bag. 
57;  connection  with  the  Xew-York 
Evening  Post,  58 ;  pecuniary  troubles, 
58;  deaUi  of  Lowell  Ameiican.  00; 
becomes  editor  of  Boston  Common- 
wealth and  Telegraph.  CO ;  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  Know-Nothings,  63; 
writes  for  Fitchburg  Reveille  and 
Worcester  Spy.  65.  91;  returns  to 
Concord,  65;  condition  in  life  in 
1851-57,  65;  his  life  and  acquaint- 
ances in  Concord,  66-77;  commences 
"Warrington"  letters,  78;  manner 
of  writing,  80;  becomes  correspond- 


ent of  New-York  Tribune  (1857), 
82;  "Traveller  consolidation,"  83; 
"out  of  work."  85;  writes  "  Boy- 
thorn "  letters,  and  for  the  Congre- 
tionalist  and  Zion's  Herald.  86;  edits 
"  Str.aight  Republican."  87;  removes 
to  Maiden.  87:  death  of  Ids  son,  87; 
clerk  of  commission  on  revision  of 
statutes,  8:*;  offered  situation  on 
New- York  Tribune,  89;  writes  for 
the  Bee.  91;  letters  on  "Squatter 
Sovereignty,"  92;  opposition  to  Vir- 
ginia Commission,  94;  c<lits  cam- 
paign papers,  and  writes  jiamphlets, 
t)5,  98;  early  opinions  on  tlio  war.  96; 
"out  of  work  "again  (18(;i),  98;  writes 
for  the  Atl.intic  Jlonthly,  08,  131; 
price  received  for  letters,  99;  declines 
asking  for  an  olUce,  102;  elected 
clerk  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of 
Representatives.  102-Ii>5;  his  salary, 
103 ;  writes  for  Commonwealth,  106 ; 
sccretaiT  of  IteptUjliean  State  Com- 
mittee from  1863-1868,  107,  112;  pre- 
sented with  gold  watch  and  chain, 
112;  re-elected  clerk,  113;  starts  the 
Concord  (X.II.)  IMointor,  113;  urged 
to  become  candidate  for  secretary 
of  state.  114;  connection  with  the 
Springfield  Republican,  114,  115; 
opposition  to  prohibition,  115;  posi- 
tion on  woman-suifrago  question, 
116-119;  edits  the  Hartford  Courant 
(186.^),  110;  opinion  of  Grant's  elec- 
tion. 120;  reception  on  his  fiftieth 
birthday,  120;  his  time  of  power, 
125;  his  sea-shore  resort,  125;  per- 
son.alityof  his  writings,  126;  contro- 
versies with  Bishop  Haven,  127;  his 
ophiion  of  his  own  labors,  127;  do- 
mestic life  while  clerk,  128, 130;  per- 
sonal appearance  in  1.'^ 65-1867,  128; 
writes  first  review  of  Wendell  Phil- 
lips in  the  Butler  camp.aign,  131;  his 
fight  against  Butler,  131-144  {see 
Butler,  B.  F.);  signs  call  for  Cincin- 
nati Convention  (1S72),  1.35;  letter  to 
Charles  Sumner  on  political  situa- 
tion in  1872, 354 ;  opinion  of  Greeley's 
nomination,  135;  his  health  (in  1872), 
136 ;  defeated  as  clerk  of  the  House, 
137-140;  his  account  of  the  causes 
of  his  defeat,  .359;  employed  on  the 
Boston  Journal,  140;  writes  the  "  Sal- 
ary Grab,"  141;  defeats  Butler  the 
second  time,  143;  his  health  at  the 
end  of  the  campaign,  144;  his  silver 
wedding,  144;  sails  for  Europe,  148; 
life  abroad,  149;  his  health  on  his 
return,  151 ;  "  out  of  work  "  again, 
144;  premature  obituaries,  152;  pub- 
lishes his  Maimal  of  Parliamentary 
Law,  155;  at  the  Northampton 
w.ater-cure,  157;  progress  and  char- 
acter of  his  disea.se,  159-1 60;  a  favor- 
ite poem,  160;  his  belief  in  immor- 
tality, 162;  his  strange  visions.  164; 
his  own  view  of  his  health,  165;  bis 
death,  165;  memorial  tributes,  167- 
180. 
'Warrington"  letters  first  appeared, 
38 J   nom  deplume,  whence  chosen, 


INDEX. 


587 


79}  history  and  cliaractev  of,  7S-101 ; 
price  paui  fur,  MJ;  attempt  to  alter 
them,  100;  copied  into  Bostou  Com- 
monwealth, 107;  selections  from, 
183,  214-L>1!5,  227-247,  251-304,  308- 
354,  359-308,  380-405  (see  Appendix 
B). 

"Webb,  Seth.  jnn.,  17. 

"Webster,  Daniel,  ))osition  in  the  Free- 
Soil  movoinont,  30,  187,  189,  190,  191, 
19.5.  2.")7;  i)olitical  da.ath  and  apos- 
tasy, 45,  40,  196,  197,  502;  juvenile 
movement  for,  195;  as  ,a  politici.an. 
347;  reminiscence  of,  404;  biography 
.  of,  545. 

Wells.  George  D.,  230. 

WlKulLjrease,  Judge,  his  first  appear- 
ance, 558 ;  his  opinion  on  the  woman 
question,  554. 

■Whig,  Boston  Daily  (see  Republican, 
Boston). 

"Whig  party  (in  1842),  28,  29,  30,  47;  and 
the  coalition,  li;8-205,  432;  letter  to 
the  Whigs,  2111. 

W'liitiiig.  KlV.  l.ynian,  436. 

Wliiiiiig.  William,  14. 

"Whiltier,  John  G.,  37,  38,  47,  14G,  531  (see 
Free-Sou  iiarty). 

Wilmot,  David,  187  (see  Free-Soil  party). 

Wilson,  Henry,  position  in  the  Frce-SoU 
movement,  and  among  the  Whigs, 
20,  29,  41,  40,  50,  C3,  9.J.  204.  232;  in 
the  Butler  campaign,  133;  letters  to 
"  Warrington,"  41,  !i3,  139.  140;  rem- 
iniscences of,  400,  405 ;  biography  of, 
541. 

Winthrop,  Robert  C,  30,  194,  231,  232, 


238,  248,  309, 415,  416, 429, 4S3, 489.  517, 
529. 

Wise"  irenr>-  A..  27,  298.  524. 

Woman's  antislavery  society  (Concord), 
members  of,  73. 

Wom.in-Rulfrage,  11;  a  reform,  40,  44; 
petition  lirst  presented  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  M.assachusetts  (1853),  1  hi,  403 ; 
"  Warrington".s  "  po.-ilion  in  regard 
to,  110-119.  420;  calculation  concern- 
ing. J 17;  Gov.  Andrew's  suggestion 
concerning  "  anxious  and  aimless  " 
women.  110;  gain  in  Ijigland,  .370; 
woman's  sphere,  .547;  sulfr.age  a 
right.  5is-5.54;  women  ritemsolvos  to 
decide  the  question,  549;  free  pinti, 
551;  arguments  agiiinst,  n'f;;te(l,  5.50. 
551 ;  can  women  hold  judicial  olRcc? 
Judge  Wlieelgreasc's  opinion  on 
(1871).  5.54;  Harvard  (Vjllege  against 
suffnigo  and  co-cducalion,  5-59; 
wom.an's  independence  in  1776  and 
Is'G,  5(51 :  the  cause  gaining,  5G3. 

Wood,  Fernando,  250. 

AV'ood,  liev.  ITor.atio  (of  Lowell),  9. 

Woodbury,  Charles  Levi,  340. 

Worcester  Convention  (1848),  183. 

Wright,  Eliztu-,  60,  72, 83,94, 184, 183,  273, 
305, 418. 

Y. 

Yeoman's  Gazette  (Concord,  1839),  14, 18, 

20,21,25. 
Young,  John  Russell,  86. 
Young  men  of  1875,  opinions  of,  390. 


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